Hell from 12
by Fictionnaire
Summary: After an emotional case, DiNozzo spills his secret to Abbs. But now facing another similar case right after... Is DiNozzo alright? Contains mention of Child Abuse.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hell From 12**_

A/N: This is a story dedicated to crockettsgirl which is where the idea for this story came from. I thought that if I didn't mention her in my little Author's Note I'd be Gibbslapped into the middle of next week.

CLAIM: I do not own NCIS… I only wish I did. Hell I can't even claim the idea but the wording is mine.

* * *

The case had been emotionally exhausting for Tony, with the murders, rapes and abductions that he'd investigated throughout his law enforcement career nothing even came close to this case.

A female Marine officer had been murdered at what looked like a case that was similar to all the others turned haywire when it turned out that their boy was being abused and Kate and Tony was in charge of caring for the boy. He jumped at the responsibility with both feet when it was obvious that he couldn't pawn off the job to anyone else. Fortunately the detail had gotten easier as it went on. Tony wanted to protect the kid from everything and everyone. This action had amused Kate. Bobby the kid had been emotionally and physically tormented in similar fashion to Tony.

"_What's your name?" Tony asked him._

"_Robert," Bobby didn't want to look at him._

"_Ahh Robert," Tony said. "Do you know who else has that name."_

"_I'm named after a Kennedy," Bobby said but looked away. The ten year old wanted nothing to do with Tony at first._

"_Do you like the name Robert?" Tony asked. He'd never had any siblings of his own and hadn't had too much to do with kids._

_Bobby looked at him for the first time. "Bobby," He exclaimed in a way which made Tony smile and the kid smiled back._

"_Bobby it is then," Tony said to the ten year old. Looking into his eyes he could have sworn he saw himself._

_Bobby followed him inside._

It'd been a tough case alright but Tony handled it in his usual way until about halfway through the case his demeanor changed dramatically. People had rarely caught a glimpse of his overprotective side. As the kid began to trust him more he began to cling onto the senior agent and never wanted to let go.

_The auntie and uncle of came into NCIS to take Bobby. They had been in England on holidays and were now able to take Bobby and be his legal guardians. Of course Tony knew that this was coming and thought that he was mentally prepared for it._

"_I don't want to go," Bobby wrapped his arms around Tony in a way that surprised him. "I want to stay with you," He cried._

_Tony knelt down in front of Bobby. "Buddy… This is your family. They're nice aren't they?" Tony looked to his eyes. "They're nice people."_

"_I'm sorry Tony," Bobby said. "I must've done something really bad. Don't you like me anymore?"_

_Tony's heart broke and swallowed a lump in his throat. "It's not that buddy. You did nothing wrong," Tony said._

"_I won't cry anymore," Bobby said to him. "I'll be brave."_

"_It's ok to cry Bobby, everybody cries sometime," Tony said wiping away Bobby's tear. "Don't let anybody tell you otherwise," He searched around and grabbed his NCIS cap off the table and looked behind him at Gibbs with a questioning look and Gibbs just nodded quietly. "You know who gets to wear caps like these?" Tony asked._

_Bobby shook his head._

"_Only brave people," Tony said as he put it on the kid's head. Of course it was too big for him but he beamed with pride. "You're a brave kid," Tony added._

_Gibbs stood next to Tony. "Yeah, you did good kid," Gibbs ruffled the kid's hair. "You were so good and we agree that you should be a deputy," He tossed Bobby an NCIS badge replica._

"_You mean I'm like a deputy sheriff?" Bobby smiled._

"_Better than that buddy," Tony said. "You're deputy special agent."_

"_I'll miss you Tony," Bobby sniffed as he wrapped his arms around Tony's neck._

"_I'll miss you to Bobby," Tony said. "But don't ever think I won't see you again… Next holidays I'll come and visit if that's alright."_

_The Auntie and Uncle nodded affirmatively._

_After relaying quick instructions to the relatives and another round of tearful goodbyes they had gone to the elevator. There were some mutterings going on from the team around him. There were some comforting pats on the shoulder._

"_I never thought I'd see you upset to see the back of someone that's not a woman Tony." Kate said._

_Everyone suddenly went quiet._

Tony hadn't talked to Kate since that occurred. Hell, he wouldn't even look in her direction which made everyone feel uncomfortable. Communication was always a key part in the team and now there was none. Mcgee and Gibbs watched Kate step from her desk and placed her palms on Tony's desk.

"What's going on with you?" She almost shouted.

Tony opened up a folder and put some papers in there. It was the report he'd been working on and rolled the tongue around in his mouth as he continued ignoring her. The action was completely easy.

"What have I done?" She asked.

Tony stood up and walked over to Gibbs placing the file down before making his way back to the desk. Kate moved in for an intercept. Mcgee had been watching the two agents' exchange and was surprised to see Tony shoulder past Kate.

Gibbs decided that that had gone far enough. "Agent Todd… Go down to the truck and make sure it's geared up."

Kate thought she was being punished for some reason. "But Gibbs," She whined.

Gibbs eyed her down and she soon was double timing it down to the garage. Then the stare's direction was concentrated to Tony. "Well?" Gibbs asked.

"I'm just being the coldhearted womanizer everyone expects me to be." Tony said in a way that made Mcgee look up from his computer. It wasn't often that Tony spoke to Gibbs in that tone.

"So are you going to ignore Kate forever?" Gibbs asked thinking how juvenile his senior agent could be.

"Maybe," Tony didn't make eye contact with Gibbs. "What am I suppose to do? I care about people… And I'm not that damn coldhearted that she thinks I am!"

"Mcgee!" Out of the corner of his eye he could see Mcgee stand to attention. "Go and see Ducky about the final autopsy results."

"Ah, yes Boss." Mcgee walked briskly out of the bullpen to the elevator.

The soul searching glare from Gibbs eventually broke through the DiNozzo Barrier and Tony made eye contact.

"I just can't stand having to go through this all the time. I'm not that coldhearted and people shouldn't see me that way." Tony stood up until he was eye level with Gibbs. "I'm not like that."

Gibbs knew the look in his senior field agent's eyes. It only occurred after a taxing case and it was well known that this case had hit Tony personally, and when Tony was like this it was near impossible to talk to him rationally.

"Get out of here," Gibbs ordered. "Come back when you're ready to talk to Kate."

Tony grabbed his bag and walked out the door without speaking.

* * *

Tony needed to drown himself. It's only been a couple of days and he missed Bobby dearly and wondered if the kid was alright. Was he happy? Was he being treated right? There were so many questions. He drove himself to the Mandalorian Bar which was his favorite haunt when he needed a few drinks. The bartender began pouring him drinks one after the other.

"Tough day?" Stephen the bartender asked.

"You can say that." Tony answered.

"I thought I'd find you here," Abby sat down next to him. "I think everyone on the floor heard the commotion and with everything that went on this was the second place I looked for you."

"Really?" Tony had trouble keeping his words from slurring. "Well welcome to hell." He said referring to anything of a radius around him. "You wanna drink Abbs." Tony asked.

"Sure." She didn't want him to drink alone. "I'll have a couple."

An hour later… They were both halfway to being totally plastered. Each time they ordered a drink, the bartender eyed them suspiciously as he thought when would be a good time to cut them off.

"What's this about Tony?" Abby was laughing at something that was on the TV.

"What am I about? Isn't that why you're here?" Tony asked which was barely audible. "Fathers are suppose to be there to protect their kids right? That's what they do in the movies. Instead, what do we have? Fathers who beat their kids and think there's nothing wrong with it," Tony banged the empty glass down.

"There are some good ones out there." Abby slurred.

Tony scoffed. If there were, they were definitely few and far between. "If I ever become father, I'd never hurt my kids… Never! You know what? I'd ask them what they wanted to do with their lives. I would. I wouldn't force them to become NCIS just because I was," He rested his head in his hands for a moment.

"Tony," Abby said. "You'd be a great daddy."

That sounded odd coming from someone. Daddy Dearest never said he'd be good at anything. "Daddy wanted me to go to military school and go into the army as soon as I was old enough. I didn't want to… I told him no! I said I didn't want to go that way." Tony only took a breather to have another shooter. He didn't even care what he was drinking now. "I was twelve years old."

Abby put her arm around his shoulders and rested her head there.

"DiNozzo's join the army he said. Teaches them discipline and gives them the foundation to take over the family business. Discipline… I didn't want to think about the army I was just twelve I didn't want to think about my future." Tony fell silent.

"Then what?" Abby prodded him.

"Daddy Dearest gave me one last chance. I didn't take it and I had a week to gather some clothes and he gave me a handful of money and didn't even say goodbye," Tony laughed a forced out laugh. "You know… People have been after me for that answer for years. I was disowned because I wouldn't follow my father's footsteps."

"Well you wanted to be your own person," Abby ran her fingers through his hair.

"And that's why I can never tell Gibbs the full story," Tony said. "It doesn't matter how many times I want to I never can," His eyes widened. He'd just spilt his guts to someone who was very close to Gibbs. "You can't tell him. He's a marine he'd disown me to… God, he'd kick me off the team."

"He won't do that," Abby said refusing anymore drinks that were offered to them.

Tony didn't share the same enthusiasm. Gibbs had marine blood in his veins and would never look at Tony the same way if he found out. Nobody seemed to understand that and why would they? He's spent all his time at NCIS living up to Gibbs and trying not to disappoint him… But he'd already disappointed him way before they ever met.

"You can't tell him." Tony pleaded. "He'd hate me."

"He won't hate you," Abby told him as they stumbled out of The Mandalorian. "But I promise I won't tell him. But I think you need to talk to him. You should."

"And that'll be the last time Gibbs and I ever speak," Tony said. "I don't want that."

He seemed much happier at that promise and they both sat in the cab for the ride to Tony's apartment and Abby was about to go her separate way by staggering drunkenly down the street.

"Stay…" Tony said. "I think if I let you get home by yourself, Gibbs would kill me. Come stay the night."

That didn't receive many arguments from Abby who was laughing at something by the time he fumbled to get the key into the lock. Spending the night with Abby had become a regular occurrence and they often slept in the same bed together. They found nothing odd with that. Whenever he was with Abby, everything seemed to be right with the world. Well almost anything. Before falling asleep he'd got plenty of water ready since they'd need it in the morning and the next morning he'd go and do his team duty and talk to Kate.

* * *

_**A/N:**_ I don't usually ask for feedback on a story… But I've been debating whether or not to extend this into a multichapter fic.


	2. Chapter 2

_**BULLPEN NCIS**_

Mcgee and Kate looked at the elevator doors as they swung open and Tony stepped onto the floor wearing sunglasses and his usual dark suit. They looked at each other with blank looks as if the other knew something they didn't when Tony high fived an agent walking by. Tony stepped into the bullpen under the watchful eyes of his colleagues and he smiled.

"Later Abby," Tony shouted into the elevator just before it closed. "Officer! I got the name of the driver who hit me… and his name was Johnny Walker," Tony dropped his bag behind the desk. "Twenty crispy clean dollars to anyone who can name where that quote was from in five seconds. Any takers?"

"Tony?" Mcgee said.

"Four," Tony held up his hand and pulled a finger down.

"Tony?" Kate looked at Mcgee.

"Three," Tony showed three fingers remaining. "Two," He called out periodically.

"Thunderball?" Mcgee rattled the first James Bond movie that came to his head.

"One… Zero," Tony put his hand down. "Buzz… Wrong! Guess this twenty is still mine!" Tony turned to Kate. "Hey Kate… Katie… Caitlin, how's it going?" He asked.

Kate eyed him suspiciously before responding to his erratic behavior. "Are you alright Tony?" She asked.

"Never better," Tony answered.

Gibbs walked into the bullpen and looked at everyone. There was that certain glint in his eye when he had a new case. "Hey!" Gibbs had gotten his team's attention the usual way. "Gear up," He said.

"What we got Boss?" Tony slung his bag over his shoulder before joining the others who were almost in the elevator.

"Dead Marine," Gibbs answered simply.

Tony almost sighed as Gibbs answered that question. Not that a dead anyone is unimportant but that's all they seemed to investigate these days and it was getting very mundane for him now. The previous case was difficult and he needed something different.

* * *

_**Linda Andrews Crime Scene**_

There seemed to be a lot of people gathered around the house when the NCIS team arrived at the house. The curtains were drawn and police tape had been placed around to keep the morbid onlookers from getting to close.

"NCIS," Gibbs showed his ID and his team soon followed suit. They were soon led into the house. Besides the fact there was a female marine slumped in the couch, the house was immaculately kept and it had stayed that way. Immediately, Gibbs crossed robbery of his internal list. Nothing seemed rifled through, that's what the LEOS had told them and it sure looked that way.

"Go check out the rest of the house and DiNozzo begin taking photos. Kate… bag and tag anything out of the ordinary."

Ever since her performance on Air Force One, Kate's crime scene job always seemed to be bagging and tagging. She wondered if Gibbs did it deliberately but she did her job dutifully.

"She's married," Gibbs observed as he held up the hand showing a nice little wedding ring on Mrs. Andrew's finger. "Mcgee!" He shouted and waited to here the running footsteps that signaled Mcgee was coming down.

"Boss?" Mcgee was puffing a bit. "I've just gone through Mrs. Andrews' draws."

Tony let out a small laugh. "Once you've finished going through Mrs. Andrews' draws, I need you to locate Jackson Andrews," Gibbs ordered.

Tony snorted once again. "Did you find anything Probie?" He asked Mcgee.

"There was nothing interesting in her draws," Mcgee answered.

Ducky, Gibbs and Kate exchange glances and looked at Tony as he began to enter a fit of uncontrollable laughter until he was gasping for air. Not only were his colleagues looking at him but a couple of the local LEOs were as well.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs walked to him. "Step outside until you can start showing some respect!" Gibbs said as he took the camera from his grasp.

Tony didn't bother answering instead he just walked outside trying to compose himself. Gibbs handed the camera to Kate who was still looking shocked. Sure, Tony had an unprofessional attitude at times but she's never seen him lose it like that at a crime scene before.

"Time of Death Ducky?" Gibbs asked.

"According to the body temperature, I estimate the time of death to be between midnight and one am." Ducky said.

"Cause of Death?" Gibbs asked.

"It's pretty hard to determine from here Jethro. But there is a strong possibility that the blunt trauma to the top of the skull is the most likely the cause but I hesitate to commit to that assumption." Ducky said.

Gibbs' searching eyes went over the crime scene. As he thought before, it didn't even look like a crime scene. The cream colored carpet looked undisturbed. "What do you make of the crime scene Kate?"

Kate watched Gibbs get down on all fours and had his eyes almost level with the carpet. At first she was hoping that his question was rhetorical but he looked at her waiting for a response. "It looks like it's been cleaned actually." She answered as she watched Tony reenter the crime scene.

"You know… A few killers in history have been known to be obsessive-compulsive. They feel the need to clean and or rearrange. Often rings are swapped or even shoelaces are undone and done back up. A prime example," Ducky was cut short by Gibbs.

"If I ever catch you acting like that at one of my crime scenes again, it'll be a hell of a long time before you ever work one again… Do I make myself clear DiNozzo?"

"Crystal clear Boss," Tony answered.

He took the camera from Kate and began to finish taking pictures of Mrs. Andrews and they were soon done with the scene and waited in the truck as they drove back to base so Ducky could perform the extensive autopsy and maybe get some answers to some of the questions to what happened.

Kate and Mcgee gave sideway glances to Tony before they settled down. It seemed that Tony was himself times a hundred. It was a level that had never been seen before and what made things even more unusual was that he refused to say anything on the way there. In fact nothing much was said by anybody.

* * *

_**NCIS autopsy**_

"You see here," Ducky said to Gibbs as he pointed to both arms of Mrs. Andrews who was now lying naked on the table. "There is no defensive bruising to the body whatsoever. Actually there are no other marks on the body," Ducky had completed the external examination of the deceased. "That would leave me to believe that the single blow to the back of the head that killed her."

Tony entered through the doors into the autopsy room since he was asked to awhile ago to meet him in Ducky in the cold silver room. Of course that was some time back and he was at his computer and he'd lost sense of time.

"There you are Anthony," Ducky said when he looked up. "I need you to get these down to Abigail right away. Tell her to give the samples the works."

"On it." Tony took vials of skull fragments and blood.

Tony stepped into the elevator and headed down to see Abby.

"Hey Abbs," Tony said. "How'd you pull up?"

"Good. Good. Breakfast helped. You've pulled up good to," Abby answered. "What you got for me Tony?"

"Bits of skull and blood," Tony handed it to her. "Ducky wants you to do the full works on them."

"Shall do," Abby replied. "How are you anyway?"

Tony folded his arms defensively and shrugged. He didn't dare share his outburst at the crime scene though he figured that word would soon get around as it always did. "I'm good," He answered. Abby placed a warm hand on Tony's arm and he just looked at it. "I swear I'm alright… But thanks Abbs," He told her. "You'd better get those tests done ASAP."

It was true. The case was more important than anything else and needed their attention first. Anything else would just be getting in the way of the investigation. Hell that should be the number one rule… Keep your personal life separated from work.

* * *

_**Bullpen, in front of large monitor**_

Mcgee kept an eye out at the elevator while Kate kept an eye on the landing at the top of the stairs. People in NCIS had a nasty habit of showing up at the most inopportune times which sometimes caused havoc.

"What do you thinks wrong with Tony?" Mcgee asked Kate.

Kate looked around before answering quietly so not even the team next door could hear what was being said. It'd be hell if word got around that they were talking about someone behind their back. "I think he's losing it," She answered. "Maybe burnout."

"Burnout?" Mcgee asked. "I don't think so."

"You know Tony," Kate looked around again. "The guy only knows two speeds… Full throttle or sleep."

"Gibbs." Mcgee told Kate as they quickly went back to their respective desks and hoped that somehow Gibbs hadn't seen them stand around talking.

"Tell me what you got," Gibbs said just before drinking from his cup.

Mcgee had expected something else. "Ah, Boss," Mcgee stammered slightly as Gibbs waited impatiently for what he asked for. "Yeah… Jackson Mark Andrews currently on tour in Afghanistan, though he's due home in a week," Mcgee informed Gibbs.

_One hell of a homecoming_ Gibbs thought to himself without changing expression.

"Has a good record, no blemishes. Highly spoke of by officers," Mcgee continued on.

"Kate," Gibbs sat down at his desk. "You and DiNozzo go and talk to neighbors and family. Find out anything you can about Mrs. Andrews," There was something missing more correctly, there was someone missing. "Where's DiNozzo? DiNozzo!" Gibbs looked around.

"Right here Boss," Tony entered the bullpen. "Was just finishing something up with Abbs," he explained.

"You and Kate are going to be interviewing family and friends," Gibbs ordered. "Call me with any news whatsoever."

"Yes Boss." Kate and Tony said in unison.

Mcgee was left in charge of digging around for any information that friends or family might be unwilling to share. All that Gibbs could do now was wait for the test results from Abby and the autopsy report from Ducky. Well that, and wonder what had gotten into Tony earlier.


	3. Chapter 3

_**AN:**__ Warning this chapter contains some swearing._

They had picked up their lunch on the way to see Andrews' neighbors and family members. Kate looked over at Tony and at the paper bag beside him. Usually when they pick up food, he couldn't help but devour it in his usual not-wait-for-digestion way but the paper bag remained untouched.

"Not hungry Tony?" She asked. It must have been the first time she's seen him not eat his own food.

"You want it?" Tony asked holding the paper bag in her direction.

Kate knew something was up. He never gave away his food without prompting. On more than one occasion when Tony wasn't keeping a watchful eye on his pizza, Gibbs would walk through and take a piece which often left Tony bewildered that he had less pizza. Then he would drop the subject once he saw Gibbs finishing the slice off. "Look if this is what I said to you before," she said referring to the comment that seemed to have started all this. "I know I shouldn't have said it."

"You don't want it?" Tony rolled down the window.

"No," Kate answered.

Tony tossed the bag out the window. The only thing that stopped her from saying something to him was the sound of police sirens. Tony slowly pulled onto the side of the road and dragged the cop car behind him longer than needed.

"License and registration," the male officer said.

Tony dutifully handed them over. "Is there a problem officer?" He asked.

"You were littering back there," the officer said handing back the license and registration then taking out the ticket book.

"Oh that," Tony replied. "It was the strangest thing. I was riding along and fiddling with the radio station… You know how the road is, we hit a bump and then my hand slipped," Tony went into a long made up scenario with an overly cheerful tone. "At that point of time, I thought about safety first so I went to put my hand back to the steering wheel and that's when we hit the pothole… My hand hit the paper bag and it flew out the window," Tony flashed a smile to the confused but slightly bored and irritated cop. "What are you doing?" Tony asked.

"Issuing you a fine," the cop answered.

Great, Tony thought. He was hoping his longwinded explanation would somehow get him out of it. "Thanks," Tony replied.

* * *

_**Michael Andrews' residence**_

The neighbor's all seemed to be saying the same thing, that the Andrews family was the picture-perfect typical family. They were spoken of very highly and didn't have one negative word to say about them. Now they decided to start on the family members.

Mcgee had told Kate that there were plenty of photographs that included a brother. This brother… Michael Andrews.

"Michael Andrews… Brother of Jackson Andrews?" They flashed their ID. "NCIS," Tony said.

Michael held open the door and allowed them to enter without question. He even offered them a drink of coffee or something. Kate almost fell out of the chair when Tony asked for a glass of water. That was totally unexpected.

The place looked pretty well cluttered up with odd pieces of collectibles and the place looked like a cross between a Ripley's Believe it or Not and a medieval museum. It seemed that the only thing that was noticeably missing was a suit of armor in the corner.

"Makes you feel like you're in a museum doesn't it?" Kate asked.

Tony half nodded in response. He was walking around the room looking closely at the different things. Michael handed Tony the glass and watched him look at everything.

"So," Kate said. "You were close to Jackson and Linda right?"

"Yes… Jackson and I are very close," Michael played with his wrist before answering.

"How did their marriage seem to you?" Kate took over the questioning until Tony decided to sit down. He sat back in the couch and listened intently to the conversation finally paying some attention.

Michael thought for a moment before answering. "You could say that the Andrews marriage was a rocky one. They were both headstrong; you know how some people are. They say opposites attract… In this case much of the sameness was a repellent."

"How so?" Tony finally spoke up.

"About six months into the marriage, Linda was starting to really degrade Michael and everything went to hell. After the child was born, that bitch turned real nasty," he continued on. "You wouldn't believe how many _accidents_ that child had at the hands of Linda. Frankly, Nicole would have been better off if Jackson had divorced her."

"Do you anyone who'd want to see Linda harmed?" Kate asked.

"Just about anyone who truly knew her," Michael answered.

"What do you think?" Tony asked Kate as they stood near the car.

"Well first we have to corroborate what Michael had just said about Nicole," Kate answered as she dialed Gibbs' number. He wanted to be kept abreast of anything that was found out. "But, if he's telling the truth, why were the neighbors lying?"

"Maybe they weren't," Tony answered. "Sometimes it's impossible for people to see what's really going on if they're too close. At times you have to be some distance away from the picture to see the whole thing," Tony's eyes narrowed when he took a deep breath in. "Because people can't see what's right under their nose. They either don't know or don't care. No wonder why so much crap goes on."

* * *

Gibbs had picked up the phone. "Gibbs," he answered but nobody answered him. Kate and Tony were having a discussion. "Gibbs!" He shouted louder trying to get Kate's attention since her voice was the closest to the phone.

_Because people can't see what's right under their nose. They either don't know or don't care. No wonder why so much crap goes on._

There was something about Tony's tone on top of his 'outburst' at the crime scene today that left Gibbs with a worried feeling deep down. _Gibbs?_ Kate's voice was finally speaking into the phone. _We just received information about possible child abuse on Nicole Andrews._

Jesus Gibbs thought as he dreaded at the thought of having two cases like this back to back.

_We just want to have it verified._ Kate said.

"I'll get Mcgee on it right away." Gibbs said before hanging up the phone. Something just wasn't sitting right in his famous 'gut'. But right now he couldn't quite put a finger on it. "Mcgee!" Gibbs shouted.

"Yes Boss." Mcgee came back with a fresh cup of coffee. The clock on the wall told his body that he should be heading out the door but wouldn't even dare make any movement that way until Gibbs had given him the go ahead. Mcgee had learned that there were two types of time when you worked at NCIS… There was clock time and then there was Gibbs' time which he classed as 'actual' time.

"I need you to dig up any medical records involving Linda, Michael and Nicole." Gibbs said.

"On it Boss." Mcgee said.

* * *

_**Brenda Orson's residence**_

"Firstly let me offer my condolences," Kate said Brenda Orson who was Linda's mother.

"Why don't you go outside and play Nicky?" Brenda asked.

"Yes Grandma," Nicole ran outside and into the sandpit.

"What can you tell us about the relationship of Linda and Michael Andrews?" Kate asked.

"It never had been the best but after Nicky was born, Michael's attitude changed, he wouldn't even look at her. He was really mean to Nicky and Linda. That little child has spent so much time in the hospital that it can't just be accidents," Brenda explained.

The two stories seemed to match but were telling completely opposite versions. Kate continued to do the questioning as Tony stood up and walked outside without saying a word.

"Your name's Nicole right?" Tony asked as he sat on the edge of the sandpit. The child looked at him with a hint of fear at the stranger.

"Uh huh," Nicole said cautiously as she occasionally looked at the sliding door.

"How old are you?"

"Nine," she answered. "I saw you show grandma your badges. Are you cops?"

"No Nicole," Tony said. "We're NCIS, we investigate navy people."

"My mom's a marine," Nicole turned her head away after tears were welling up in her eyes. "But now she's gone and not coming back."

Tony didn't know what it was about him lately, but the next second she was crying into his shoulder. "Hey," he stroked her head.

The girl sobbed loudly. "I want my mommy back," Nicole said.

"I know… I know," Tony said and was shocked to find he was trying to hold back tears of his own. He so badly wanted to take the little girl's pain away but in reality there was nothing he could do. "I'm sorry," Tony thought he sounded pathetic.

Thankfully, Brenda reached down and took the sobbing Nicole indoors. Tony stayed down for a moment longer before standing up.

"Reminiscing about your childhood?" Kate was trying to keep things light.

Tony stopped himself from saying anything, they left the questioning and went to the car. "So," he said. "We'll bust the bastard's ass as soon as he steps off that plane."

"Wait, how do you know it's him?" Kate asked, "What about what the brother said?"

"He was lying to protect his brother," Tony answered.

"The mother could be lying to protect her daughter," Kate pointed out.

There wasn't much more they could do here and it was time they headed back to the bullpen. Possibly by then, Mcgee would have something concrete to go on and perhaps they can actually get the ball rolling on the case and maybe catch a bit of shut eye in the process.

* * *

_**NCIS HQ**_

As soon as Mcgee saw the elevator doors open, he could hear Kate and Tony in a heated argument over something and it was spilling out onto the floor. Gibbs heard it to as he looked over the list of the injuries that the child had sustained.

"No!" It was unsuspected to hear Tony yelling no at Kate. It was usually the other way around.

"It maybe the only way… Wait, it is the only way," Kate wasn't letting go.

"If you want to go back to Nicole and ask her which one of her parents abused her… Then be my guest Kate," Tony dropped his bag on the table. "I won't have anything to do with it, that child just lost her mother Kate and her father's deployed. Nicole's been through enough already," Tony's voice was somewhat raised.

"When have you become such a bleeding heart?" Kate asked.

"Fuck off!" Tony shouted which got everyone's attention. "Since when have you become a cold hearted bitch?"


	4. Chapter 4

Tony and Kate ended up virtually screaming at each other. Of course they had had arguments in the past, some of them were heated but this was way beyond that. Usually they fizzled but this one wasn't just going to go away.

"Hey," Gibbs tried to get their attention. "Hey!" He tried again but they kept up their arguing. "ENOUGH!" Gibbs barked out as the insides of his eyebrows turned downwards.

This even made Mcgee stop what he was doing and look up. Of course he'd heard him somewhat pissed before but this was way beyond that. The shouting was followed by stone cold, unearthly silence.

"Mcgee," Gibbs said without taking his eyes off the other agents. "Read what you've found out."

"Right… At eight months old, a heater was dropped on Nicole's head and that required four stitches. Twenty-three months… Cut lip and bruised cheekbone from walking into an open cupboard door. Two years old, bruised jaw… Reason unknown. Four years old, dislocated shoulder from falling off a swing set," Mcgee stopped.

"Why'd you stop Mcgee?" Gibbs asked.

Mcgee had gauged their faces' reaction to his words. The mood of the room had turned from anger into depression in a flash and he wasn't sure if he should continue from the list. However, Gibbs' words had made that decision for him.

"Five years old, dislocated shoulder… Five years old, broken arm. Six years old, concussion. Cause unknown. Six years old, bruise to the shoulder from running into the clothesline. Eight years old… Broken wrist from falling off a home swing set. Eight years old… Bruised cheekbone, reason unknown," Mcgee finished reading the list of injuries from the printout. "And that doesn't include the times she had the flu, three bouts of food poisoning," he added.

For a moment everyone stood silent. "If you two have stopped with your pissing contest perhaps you can realize that there are more important things to consider… Like finding out who killed Linda Andrews," Gibbs said in a flat tone.

"Yes Agent Gibbs," Kate said.

"And don't forget Nicky," Tony reminded them of the little girl involved.

"Shouldn't we concentrate on what's important?" Kate asked. She hadn't meant it the way it sounded.

"Hey!" Gibbs said trying to play peacekeeper again.

"You're saying that the child's unimportant?" Tony asked.

"No," Kate answered.

"Hey!" Gibbs shouted louder.

"I always knew you were cold and heartless. Thank god you never became a mother." Tony retaliated to where it hurts the most. That was something he had learned from an early age, when you're attacking someone, go for the heart.

_SLAP!_

Tony's face hardly flinched when her hand connected to his cheek. His mouth frowned in anger as he raised his hand about to do the same… This wasn't something Gibbs wouldn't allow and grabbed Tony by the wrist and refused to let go.

"Agent Todd… It's about time you got yourself dinner," Gibbs said without looking at her. He waited for the elevator doors to close before saying anything. "If you ever threaten to do that again, your punishment would be insurmountable."

Tony's arm relaxed so Gibbs let it drop. "Yes Boss," Tony couldn't look at him. Sure he felt angry, but he didn't think he'd raise his hand against a coworker… A female coworker at that.

"Do you want to tell me what's going on?" Gibbs asked, sensing that this was not just the typical Tony/Kate squabble. This was deep and Tony was being hurtful. There was always jovial teasing going on which Gibbs didn't mind.

"No Boss," Tony responded solemnly.

* * *

"_Don't cry! You know you're just going to make it worse if you cry!"_

"_Stop it! It hurts… Daddy No!"_

_The belt came down hard against the ass. Each time that happened, the pain became more intense. In some sick fantasy the action was liked. It seemed that this was the only attention that the daddy gave. The rest of the time he was ignored._

"_This will teach you the lesson my boy. There are some things that aren't to be touched by little children."_

_The pain hit harder. "But daddy. I wasn't touching it, I was looking at it."_

"_Don't lie to me boy!" The last swing of the strap was the hardest._

_The strong smell of alcohol and tobacco stained the air around him. Daddy Dearest was drunk and in no mood to look at the boy. Nothing could be done to make daddy dearest act like a father._

_It was no mistake when the bottle of whiskey was poured down the sink. It was a deliberate act of both defiance and in a hope to bring Daddy from the brink of the whole he was stuck in._

"_You did what?!" Daddy Dearest screamed as he continuously hit him with such ferocity there was no possibility for defense. "That is mine! What have I told you about respect! The belt won't cut it this time," He yelled._

"_No!"_

_Daddy Dearest dragged him outside and shoved him onto the lawn. "Stay out here until I say you can come back in," Daddy said._

"_You can't do this!"_

"_I'm your father Tony!" Daddy corrected him._

_It was so cold outside… So, so, so cold._

Kate raised her head up from the desk. She had heard someone crying out in an almost childlike fashion. Tony's body laid back in the chair in his usual sleeping way and was occasionally twitching and his mouth let out some moans.

"Tony," With all that went on earlier, the caring for her partner remained. The sounds seem to stop and that's when his body started shivering. "Tony?"

Gibbs opened an eye and watched his senior field agent in the throes of a nightmare. That wasn't an unusual thing when it came to Tony. If nobody was here, he'd tend to him but while others were around, Gibbs thought it would be best to let him ride it out. Kate had other ideas.

"Kate," Gibbs said.

This made her jump, it wasn't totally dark but she'd assumed that everyone was asleep. When she looked at Gibbs he just shook his head at her but she either didn't see it or chose to ignore it. Slowly, Kate walked up to the sleeping frame.

"Tony?" She asked into his ear and gently shook his shoulders. "Wake up," She spoke softly.

In the dangerous stage between sleeping and waking, Tony's images were blurred. The real world had not yet come into focus. "Get away from me," he muttered.

"Wake up Tony," Kate persisted.

Tony stood up and pushed the person away from him before realizing who was hovering over him. Kate went stumbling backwards as she fell on her back. She used her elbows to prop herself up and stared at Tony in shock.

"Kate?" Tony realized what he'd done. "I'm sorry… I didn't realize," he blurted out.

The scenario had unfolded too quickly for Gibbs to react but he was by her side in a flash. "Leave," Gibbs said to Tony before helping Kate to the chair.

"What the hell was that about?" Kate rubbed her back.

"You have to be cautious with a sleeping DiNozzo," Gibbs whispered. "He's not a good sleeper… Are you ok?" He asked.

"A bruised tailbone I think," Kate answered. "I'm good really."

* * *

Maybe it was the safest thing to get away from everyone. Tony found himself drifting off to the lab. He hadn't seen Abby leave earlier so he wondered if she was still there. Part of him felt like he was drifting away from the team.

"Tony," Abby said.

"I thought you went home," Tony replied. His face betrayed the image he was conveying.

"What's wrong?" Abby asked. There wasn't anything to distract them. There was no evidence handover. Tony stepped further into the lab. "You don't look so hot," Abby commented.

"Thanks Abbs," Tony said.

Tony shocked Abby for a split second when he initiated the hug. She reciprocated quickly, catching him in a warm embrace. "Tony?" She asked as he buried his head deep into her neck and shoulder.

"I think I'm going over the line Abbs," It took all the inner strength for him not to fall apart there and then. "Before you hear it from anyone else. I shoved Kate down and I don't know why… And I went to hit her. Oh God, if Gibbs hadn't stopped me," Tony felt a sort of emotional detachment as he poured his heart out to her. "It's happening, I'm turning into my father... It was only a matter of time."


	5. Chapter 5

Gibbs had made sure that Kate was alright then briskly walked towards the elevator. She insisted that she was alright but just looked a little shook up. There was definitely something going on with his senior field agent and for whatever reason had told himself to ignore it and deal with it later. Also he'd always made it perfectly clear that Tony could come to him if something was troubling him. He was hoping that Tony was predictable and went down below and not stormed somewhere else.

He walked into the lab in time to catch…

"I'm turning into my father," Tony said. His voice muffled since his head was still buried deep into her neck and shoulder.

There was an urge to run in there and find out what's going on. Yet a stronger urge to stand in the corner and listen to the conversation unfold. "You need to talk about it," Abby said still refusing to let him go from the iron grip. "You should talk to Gibbs," she said.

"I can't," Tony's forced reply came out. That was something he was sure of. "How personal can you get with an ex marine?" He asked as an afterthought.

Gibbs stepped back, further into the darkness as Tony walked past and exited the lab without looking either way.

"How long you been standing there Gibbs?" Abby had turned away.

Gibbs couldn't help but smile as he came out of the corner. "Christ Abbs… How do you do that? Not long really," Gibbs answered.

"I saw you come in Bossman," Abby answered.

"Right…," Gibbs looked into her eyes with the probing stare. "There's something I should know about."

Abby looked away and back again. "There's nothing I can say bossman," Abby replied.

"Abby…" Gibbs prodded vocally.

"I made a promise to him Gibbs… I won't go back on my word," Abby said defiantly. Gibbs wasn't the only one who could say things with a certain tone to make people listen. "Gibbs," Abby said before he left.

"Abbs?" He responded.

"Look after him," Abbs played with her fingers in front of her neck. "For me," she added.

"Always do Abbs," Gibbs said before exiting.

* * *

Mcgee was asleep on the chair, drooling just slightly and was looking like he was about to fall off its side. Gibbs tapped him on the shoulder but received no coherent response at first.

"Mcgee-ee," Gibbs said into his ear.

"Huh?" Mcgee said sleepily.

"I need to speak with you," Gibbs said.

Mcgee's eyes remained closed. "Orc, Goblin?" He asked before sitting up straight in the chair and found himself being wheeled into the opposite wall, away from everyone else in the bullpen. "Boss?" Mcgee asked.

"I need you to do something for me in spare time," Gibbs whispered. "I want you to do some digging on DiNozzo," he said as quietly as possible. "Find anything you can about his childhood."

"If he finds out, he'll disembowel me," his half closed eyes snapped open with fear.

"You take care of this and I'll handle DiNozzo if the need arises," Gibbs said. "But you only tell me what you find, you got it?" He asked.

"Yes Boss," Mcgee answered.

"Don't even tell anybody else," Gibbs stated. "Don't worry Mcgee… Nobody's been court-martialed while following a direct order," Gibbs assured him.

"Boss… Wait… Boss," Mcgee said. That was a military thing but the team wasn't enlisted. Did that guideline ring true for NCIS. "Will do Boss," he said in a loud whisper as he wheeled himself back to his work area.

Tony kept a couple of spare suits in his locker in the locker rooms. Something he'd learned awhile back since they actually spent a lot of time sleeping at work. He slammed the locker door shut after putting his clothes in it. "You know, you can just about live at NCIS," Tony said to nobody. "Canteen, showers, comfy chairs," he continued on as he stepped into the shower and soaped his body to get the smell off himself. He hated having a day without showering.

Kate lifted her head off the desk when she heard the footsteps approach. After using her hand to brush some hair away from her eyes, she looked up seeing Tony nice and refreshed. He put a comb on her desk. "Here," Tony said before placing a sandwich and a fresh cup of coffee in front of her.

"Thank you Tony," Kate said.

"You're welcome Kate," Tony replied.

"How much do I owe you?" Kate asked.

"Don't worry about it," Tony answered.

Kate opened up the plastic container and held one sandwich half out towards Tony. "Hey, Take this," she hadn't seen him eat anything at all yesterday.

"No thanks," Tony replied.

"Take it," Kate said.

Tony took half of the sandwich and began chewing slowly. He turned his attention to Gibbs who was also catching up on sleep. Quietly, Tony stepped up to the sleeping marine and removed the lid from the coffee cup and maneuvered it under the Marine's nose.

"Coffee?" Gibbs sat up.

"I just love that!" Tony said.

* * *

_**Autopsy.**_

They were all down at autopsy in a flash when Ducky and Abby had said that they finally had something mapped out. It was well into lunch time when they all met and they eagerly waited for the explanation as to what had happened.

"What do you have for us?" Gibbs asked. It didn't take too long for Abby to raise her hand to indicate that she was to go first.

"Well ok then… Ducky gave me some metal fragments which I had analyzed and ran a few tests on," Abby said.

"These fragments were taken from the head wound," Ducky pointed out.

"Yeah, these fragments were taken from the head wound as Ducky said… These fragments were actually off an old fashioned candlestick holder. One of those ones that they use in old scary looking houses," Abby said.

"Are they rare, common, or what?" Gibbs asked.

"The metal used was cheap… Imitation silver. Therefore it was easy for shards to break off," Abby continued. "Unfortunately, these little trinkets are a 'dime a dozen' at any swap meet, flea market or second hand shops. No identifiable marks whatsoever on the shards," Abby concluded her part.

"This chair represents the couch," Ducky said, "Abby's tox screen came up negative so dear Linda Andrews had not been drugged and the lack of any physical evidence whatsoever of a scuffle and therefore, more than likely she knew her murderer," Ducky said.

"Right or Left handed?" Gibbs asked.

"The angle goes in from right to left… Like this," Ducky demonstrated the action with his usual over exuberant self.

"I've got it!" Tony exclaimed, "It was Ducky in Autopsy with an imaginary candlestick…," Tony flinched for a second when he felt the familiar pain of a Gibbs headslap.

"So we're after a male then about what height?" Kate asked.

"Not necessarily Caitlin," Ducky answered. "It's true that most of the time men have been killers. But I'm reminded about a case in Australia a couple of years ago… A woman actually stabbed to death her husband and he didn't have a chance to retaliate and then…"

"Ducky…" Gibbs said.

"Well anyway… So females can be just as deadly that's my point," Ducky quickly concluded the story.

* * *

_**Michael Andrews' Residence.**_

It had taken a couple of days to get the search warrant for Michael's house. The only reason they thought about getting the warrant was because of the kind of collectables that were in his house… It just seemed to fit.

Gibbs, Mcgee and Kate were led into the house by Michael who remained totally calm while the NCIS agents had a good look through the collection.

"I knew I saw it the other day," Tony said as he picked up a candlestick. "What do you think? Tony in the living room with the candlestick?" Tony asked.

"DiNozzo." Gibbs said as the others just shook their head.

Tony placed the candlestick in an evidence bag. They had gotten what they'd come for… The possible murder weapon. Of course they'd have to get it back to Abby to have it verified.

* * *

_**NCIS HQ, Bullpen**_

They were waiting for the test results from Abby, so they could proceed with the investigation further. With the murder weapon, that'd bring about a murder suspect and a subsequent incarceration. But something didn't feel right to Tony… He'd been way to co-operative for someone who could be guilty of murder.

Tony's phone rung and he picked it up before he began talking to the people on the other end. The others were engaged in small talk as they waited. Tony hung up the phone and had a huge smile on his face.

"News?" Mcgee asked.

"Good news," Tony hopped off the corner of his desk. "Brenda Orson… The child's grandmother is filing for soul custody of Nicole Andrews," he said.

"How is that good news?" Gibbs asked.

Tony sighed. Was he the only one that saw the possible danger? Was he the only one that truly cared? "Well Nicole can be placed in a loving and protective environment." Tony answered standing in the middle of the bullpen.

"What about the father coming home?" Gibbs asked. "Finished serving a tour and is coming home to find his wife murdered and now someone's trying to take his only child away," Gibbs explained the situation. Everyone else in the bullpen stood quietly as the Boss and Senior Field Agent was having a heated debate.

"Well if he was any kind of father, I'm sure Nicole wouldn't have been hurt so much," Tony responded.

"I think your personal history is clouding your emotions," Gibbs said.

Tony's eyes flared slightly. Maybe he was right, maybe he wasn't. But if his history's clouding his judgment then surely it's doing the same to Gibbs. "Cut the Yoda philosophy Boss. Your judgment is clouded to," Tony said. "Oh wouldn't you give to spend one more moment with your daughter."

Gibbs stood up, knocking the chair back and had his hands palm down on his desk. For a moment, the others dared not breathe.

"Guys!" Abby jogged into the bullpen breaking the growing tension.

"What is it Abbs?" Mcgee let everyone know she was there.

"This… This candlestick is not the murder weapon," Abby told everybody. "Sure it's the same cheap metal, but the whole candlestick is undamaged," She continued.

With their one solid lead down the drain, the investigation felt like it had hit a brick wall. Time stopped but only momentarily since there was still a lot more work to be done.

"Let's go and pay Michael another visit shall we?" Gibbs asked with a ghost of a smile.

"Boss?" Mcgee asked.

"We should return the candlestick shouldn't we?" Gibbs said. "We wouldn't want NCIS coming across as being impolite now, do we? Gear up people."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hell from 12**_

They arrived back at Michael Andrews' residence right at the most inconvenient time which was right at the dinner time. The others quietly debated whether or not this was a deliberate act by Gibbs or not. But they soon had to agree amongst themselves that this was Gibbs' plan all along.

"I was just going to have dinner… This isn't a good a time," Michael said.

"We've just come to return your candlestick that we took into evidence," Gibbs said as they entered the house. "I thought that you'd be interested in getting it back," he handed him the candlestick.

"Thanks," Michael took it and put it back on the mantelpiece.

"You should be pleased to know that this was not the murder weapon used in the death of Linda Andrews," Gibbs said. "That was not the candlestick that killed her."

"I could've already told you that," Michael replied in a cocky manner.

There was something about Michael that rubbed him up the wrong way. "You were pretty confident that this wasn't the murder weapon," Gibbs added.

"That's because it wasn't," Michael answered.

Gibbs was just about to leave. "Oh, you know… Sometimes when we run tests involving innocent people, they get a little nervous. There's always that little fear in the back of their minds," Gibbs said. "I think you're confident that that wasn't the murder weapon… Really confident and I think you're confident because you know what the murder weapon was," Gibbs explained.

"If you really thought like that… If you had any proof of that, you'd be taking me in," Michael smirked in a way that anybody would have wanted to physically remove it from his face.

Gibbs gave a slight smile. "Yeah you're right," he said. It wasn't a resigned tone, it was a tone that implied a threat.

They left before being ordered off the property. Mcgee, Kate, Tony and Gibbs walked near the drive until they reached near the end of the driveway when Tony suddenly stopped which caused everyone else to follow suit.

"Is that it?" Tony asked Gibbs. "I thought you'd do more."

"We have nothing DiNozzo," Gibbs answered. That had never stopped them from somehow moving forward before. There was a plan already forming in his mind. "There's nothing much we can do."

Tony walked towards the car but was bumped off balance by Gibbs and then he tripped over Mcgee and somehow bounced off Kate. "Careful," Kate snapped and in a miraculous fete of non balance, Tony fell over the bin spilling its contents onto the curb and road.

"Look at what you've done DiNozzo," Gibbs said. He looked at the window. "You realize that we'll have to clean it up now."

Tony picked himself up and dusted himself off while they went to put on their latex gloves. Neither of them wanted to get their hands dirty. Almost as soon as they started, Michael stormed out of the house to see what the hell they were doing.

"What the hell are you doing?" Michael asked.

"My agent here stumbled over your trashcan and we were cleaning it up for you," Gibbs answered.

"Hey," Tony responded. "You pushed me."

"We'll be done in a moment," Gibbs said as they continued shoving things back into the bins. "Just keep him back for a moment DiNozzo," He added.

Tony dutifully stood up and put himself in between Michael and the trashcans. Even this minor action had irritated the already volatile situation. "We'll be done in a minute," Tony said.

"You realize that going through my trash is illegal," Michael had lost his cocky attitude that he showed earlier.

"We're not going through the trash," Tony said. His vision was temporarily lost in a mask of pain as a fist connected with his nose, immediately he could feel blood pouring out and over his lips.

"You're under arrest for assaulting a federal agent," Gibbs said as he slapped on the handcuffs. "This is now a crime scene."

"You can't do this," Michael said angrily as Tony and Gibbs shoved him into the back of the car.

"You alright Tony?" Gibbs asked as he handed Tony a handkerchief from the glove department.

Tony grabbed it and patted his nose. Fortunately, it didn't feel as if it was broken… The glancing strike had only drawn blood and some pain. One good thing though, it had momentarily given him an excuse to not be in digging around the trash which the others. They could thoroughly rummage through it now since it had been turned into a crime scene.

By the time they'd finished clearing up and finding nothing, Gibbs was angry. He was sure that Michael Andrews had made a mistake, but no. There was no other candlestick hidden as he thought there would be. Maybe he had to resign to the fact that his gut feeling had led him astray.

"Damn," Gibbs mouthed quietly.

* * *

_**NCIS HQ: Interrogation Room.**_

Tony observed Gibbs through the two way mirror, eager to see the book thrown at him. Sure it wasn't mature to hold a grudge for being punched in the nose. But he was kind of getting sick of being in the firing line each time. It seemed that the cases lately seemed to say its Tony season.

"You know it's a crime to assault a federal officer," Gibbs said after a long period of silence.

Michael Andrews didn't have a defense for this action but he did seem to have a TV show knowledge of how the system worked and he chose to remain silent. There was one thing that the TV crime dramas didn't have… and that was Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

"You want to tell me why you saw fit to strike an Agent?!" Gibbs shouted. "You can go to jail for a long time."

Michael began to twitch nervously at the thought of prison. "You lot were going through my stuff," he went back to that defense.

"Is that what you going to stick with?" Gibbs laughed as he stood up. "Are you going to go in front of a judge and say you assaulted an agent because we were cleaning up a trashcan that we knocked over?" He asked.

"I think it'll work because I think you knocked it over deliberately," Michael answered.

"I can assure you that Agent DiNozzo did not deliberately knock them over," Gibbs said as he straightened his jacket and walked around the room, refusing to stand still. "You are going to be going away for along time Mister Andrews," Gibbs warned.

"Now wait a minute," He replied. "It was just a bloody nose."

"It doesn't matter," Gibbs said before leaning to the side of him. "You hit him! That's assault!"

"Come on," He said.

"But, today's your lucky day Mister Andrews," Gibbs told him as he toned down considerably. "We're not taking you into custody. However we'll be keeping an eye on you and if you attempt to leave the state we'll take you in then."

"Alright," Michael responded as he stood up.

"Keep yourself out of any trouble," Gibbs said just before he left. "Oh and have you spoken to your brother lately?"

"Only this morning," Michael answered. "Somebody had to tell him the bad news."

"Just remember you're on very thin ice Mister Andrews," Gibbs reminded him. "If you place one foot wrong, we already have enough to bring you in and make your life hell."

* * *

Tony grabbed his gear and watched Michael being escorted out of the building. He couldn't believe that Gibbs of all people had just let him go. In fact, he couldn't believe that Gibbs had pushed him causing him to fall over the trashcans. Hell, it was even hard to believe that he was placed in the firing line. There was something disturbing about this case. Before Gibbs had gotten back, he'd get out of there and home.

The elevator doors opened revealing Abby. "On your way home?" She asked.

Tony nodded as he stepped into the elevator with her and hung his head. "You?" He asked as the elevator started going down.

"You ok?" Abby asked. Tony looked tired and was constantly rubbing his eyes.

"I'm fine," He answered with a sigh. But that was a lie, he even couldn't lie to himself right now. The lump in his throat just wouldn't go down.

"Tony," Abby said noticing his continuous discomfort. She's known he was on the verge and also knew that he'd be typical DiNozzo and keep it hidden. Tony didn't respond. At first she wasn't sure if he wanted comforting or just needed to be left to his own devices. When it came to those decisions Abby always thought it was best to err on the side of caution and pulled him in tightly without giving him the chance to protest the compassionate act.

A second later the tears began to flow uncontrollably as his body trembled with each sob. The floodgates opened with the warm touch. Abby stroked his hair silently, allowing him to speak if he wanted to.

"I was told not to show emotion… Detachment was always the key," Tony cried, he felt ashamed and stupid. "My father was always right, I was destined to grow into a weak bleeding heart," he said as he failed at stopping himself from pouring his heart out.

She lifted Tony's head up by the chin so that watery green eyes met her caring ones. "Listen to me Tony," Abby said. "Are you hearing me?"

The question shocked him as he wiped his eyes, he tried to look away but his head was kept in place. "I'm hearing you Abbs," Tony answered.

"It takes a strong man to show their emotions and what you've been through with this case and all it is expected," Abby said maintaining eye contact. "Nobody would think any less of you. Did you just hear what I said?"

Tony nodded his head before resting it deep into her shoulder once again. "I don't know what I'd do without you Abbs."

The elevator doors opened and they both went to their cars and headed home for the night.

* * *

_**Clothes Store, next morning**_

Tony hadn't gotten too much sleep the night before. Sleep seemed to be an almost elusive thing at the moment which was not unusual when he worked on cases that were personally difficult. He picked up an expensive light blue silk tie from the rack and walked over to the counter.

"Good choice Sir," The retail assistant said. "Do you need a bag for that?"

"I'll wear it now," Tony removed the tag and tied the knot quickly. "How do I look?" he asked.

"You look great Sir." The assistant observed.

"Thanks… I feel great," Tony said as he left the store. With a new tie, he felt ready to take on the upcoming day. _Confident exterior radiates a confident person._ He adjusted the tie before making his way back to the car and headed for another day at NCIS.

* * *

_**A/N: I have tried to keep this story as close to Canon as possible but realized I have made a couple of mistakes on that part so I'm going to say that those Canon mistakes are part of my creative license. Also the term 'Daddy Dearest' is a variation to 'Mommy Dearest' as I think DiNozzo's father would be the male equivelant.**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Hell From 12**_

Gibbs was surprised to see Tony enter the bullpen at a slow pace and settle at the desk without saying a word. The other thing he noticed was that his senior field agent was sporting a brand new tie. Each time Tony came to work with a new tie it was either after he'd gotten into a hard argument or really upset about something he seemed to have a new tie the next day. He flicked on the computer and began typing.

"What's up with you?" Gibbs stood up as he placed some paper into the cabinet in the back of his corner.

"Nothing," Tony said as he began typing on his computer.

"The hell there isn't DiNozzo," Gibbs snapped. "You come in to work this morning with a new tie. Not one that matches your suit because you want people to notice your new tie," He observed.

"I got a new tie, so what?" Tony replied he leaned back in the chair and breathed heavily.

"Damnit DiNozzo!" Gibbs cursed.

Tony ran a hand through his hair and he debated whether or not to let this argument continue. "You want to know what's bothering me?" He asked and waited for Gibbs to respond with a nod. "Ok, for starters you actually pushed me and caused me to trip over the rubbish and then you send me into the line of fire and then that final straw… You had the guy in here with cause to charge him and you let him go." Tony said as he began typing again.

"It was a stupid move to push you so you'd fall over the trashcans. I did it so they'd be knocked over and we'd have a chance to rifle through its contents," Gibbs explained. "I made you accidentally knock them over, that if anything was found it wasn't the product of a search. As for sending you in the line of fire DiNozzo, that was a calculated judgment, you have a habit of bringing out the best in people… That calculation allowed us to bring him in for custody," Gibbs said as he explained the situation as clear and precise as he could muster.

"And letting him go," Tony prodded.

"I was putting the fear of God into him and now I have him knowing he's being tailed half of the time… The other half of the time he'll be paranoid and think he's always being followed," Gibbs continued. "And the more cautious someone becomes, the easier it is for them to make a mistake. As soon as Kate gets in, you two are on first shift. Make sure you're seen by him."

"Yes Boss," Tony replied.

Gibbs stood in front of Tony's computer monitor and pressed a key to escape the dancing girls screensaver. The word processor was still running since Tony hadn't shut the computer down when he left with Kate.

The typing made no sense until he took a closer look at it.

_HELLHELLHELLHELLHELLHELL_

* * *

_**Shopping Centre**_

Kate and Tony had did as they were instructed and made it blatantly obvious to Michael that they were following him while to any other shopper they were just two different people going through a normal shopping day.

"So Kate…" Tony said into the little microphone so that they could communicate with each other. "How much is it for the peas?"

"What?" Kate asked back.

"Don't worry about it… We've lost interest in the peas… Repeat, we've lost interest in the peas," Tony said.

"What are you on about?" Kate asked.

"There was this movie where a secret agent is guarding the former first lady of the United States Of America and well she's a pigheaded protectee and the secret service guy is played by Nicholas Cage. The little old lady went out shopping… So they had to be in the store with her," Kate rolled her eyes as she had no choice but to listen to yet another movie analogy. "One of them goes into Cage's ear and says, 'how much for the canned peas?' So Cage asks the manager and relays back the price. After she changes her mind, the agent says… Lost interest in the peas, repeat… Lost interest in the peas," Tony finished the story.

"Just keep your mind on the job Tony," Kate said. She was bored with the analogy about halfway through.

"Wait, he's making his way to the checkout," Tony said.

* * *

_**Outside Michael Andrews' Residence. Night**_

Gibbs sat in the car and sipped from his coffee. Occasionally he'd turn the inside light on, this was to let Michael know that there was a car on the other side of the street. Mcgee opened the passenger side door and stepped inside. As he sat down he handed Gibbs the papers that he'd collated… The real DiNozzo.

"Did you read it?" Gibbs asked.

"I had to read the stuff to know if it was relevant," Mcgee had a solemn look on his face as he answered. "But the age old question still remains," he added.

Gibbs nodded. He'd already assumed that that would be the case. There'd be a lot that wouldn't be available on the paper trail.

"Good work Mcgee," Gibbs said.

He looked began looking through the papers and quickly deciphered why Tony had been so touched by the latest cases by just skim reading through it. Tony had spent a lot of time in hospital for various injuries which was something that had occurred in both children. The list was extensive. Nothing in his early life had suggested any reason for getting into law enforcement. In the last couple of pages listed his previous stations. It seemed that every couple of years, Tony moved. Tony's been at NCIS for around two years.

"Aw Hell DiNozzo," Gibbs commented as he closed the file.

"Boss?" Mcgee said.

Something had to be done and he knew who held some vital information but the problem was trying to extract it. "We've got a real situation," Gibbs sighed.

"Does he know you're out here?" Mcgee asked.

"He's been looking outside his window every now and again," Gibbs said. "He knows."

They'd spent another hour out there before heading back. So far their task was going exactly to Gibbs' plan. The question is, what would eventuate from this.

* * *

It wasn't long till the actions of the NCIS agents had reached the ears of their Director, Tom Morrow and he wasn't at all happy with the fact that the team was on the verge of stalking Michael and he'd sent in an official complaint against Gibbs and his team. Everyone was called into the office.

"I don't know what you're playing at Agent Gibbs, but this sort of harassment needs to stop," Director Morrow said in a cautioning tone.

"I don't know what you're on about Sir," Gibbs replied. "We weren't harassing Michael Andrews," Gibbs knew that he was going through a technicality since, technically they were just being in the same vicinity.

"Cut the BS Gibbs," Morrow cut him short. "I know what you're like... There is official protocol that must be followed when performing stakeouts."

It seemed that what followed was an extended lecture of what they shouldn't have done and by the end he just seemed to continuously repeat what he had said earlier.

_**

* * *

**_

_**Abbs' Lab**_

Gibbs stepped into the Abby's lab and smirked as he was bombarded with loud rock and roll music which was something he was only just getting use to but there was no way he could talk to Abby over it. He turned it off.

"What you doing here Gibbs? I wasn't expecting you," Abby said. There was nothing in her lab for Gibbs' team but she had been inundated with work from the other teams. "You need something from me Boss," It was a statement, not a question.

"Information," Gibbs replied simply as he held out a cup of Caf-Pow. "Information on DiNozzo."

Abby's smile faded. This wasn't the first time he'd tried to retrieve information and she'd expected that it wouldn't have been the last. "You're bribing me with Caf Pow Gibbs?" She asked.

"This isn't a bribe Abbs," Gibbs answered as he handed her the styrofoam cup and waited for her to take a tentative sip. "Well?" Gibbs prodded.

"I understand where you're coming from Gibbs... But as I said before, I can't say anything," she walked around the desk to avoid Gibbs. "I can't tell you."

"Damn it Abby, this is serious," Gibbs almost snapped. "Tony's hurting and I need to know how to make it stop."

Abby let out a little growl as she became somewhat annoyed at the questioning. "I do understand but I can't betray him, I think you understand that," she replied in a tone that ended the argument there.

Of course Gibbs was stubborn but he knew when there was a brick wall and in this case the brick wall was named Abby. If one brick wall refused to budge, there was always a second one to try. He made his way past the bullpen.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs shouted. "Follow me," he walked towards the elevator.

"On your six," Tony said.


	8. Chapter 8

_**HELL FROM 12**_

The voice that had come from Gibbs' mouth was one that meant business and everyone knew that. This was a time where Tony felt like he was being lead to a firing squad… _Scratch that!_ This was worse much worse. Two agents were about to enter the elevator when Gibbs' threatening gaze caused them to decide to wait for the next one. Shortly after it rolled into action, Gibbs reached out and pushed the emergency stop button and Tony realized that he was indeed stuck in his boss' office with nowhere to run.

"Two years is coming up now," Gibbs said without looking.

"Didn't think you cared about anniversaries," Tony replied, wondering where this was going.

"You've never stayed at any job more than two years," Gibbs continued while ignoring his statement. "You've almost been here two years."

"You looked at my file?" Tony asked. That was something that made him cringe. Just how deeply had Gibbs searched. "Why?"

Gibbs sighed. His senior field agent never made anything easy especially when something not work related needed to be discussed. "You've been acting erratically lately… Everyone's seen it," Gibbs said being as forthright as he possibly could. The first rule of dealing with DiNozzo is that you had to be direct, anything else would get the vague response. "Everyone's commented on it," Gibbs said.

Tony had known that his behavior had gotten extreme lately. "If this is about my behavior to Kate… I'll go and apologize. You were right, it was inexcusable that even the thought of raising my hand," Tony said. "And what I said to you, it was low."

"Damnit DiNozzo!" Gibbs shouted. "A low blow I can take… You threatening to hit Kate, I can't condone that but that's not the main point," Gibbs now had his whole body facing Tony. "You want me to fire you? Is that it?"

"No," Tony's eyes widened. "But I perfectly understand if you do, that's why you have me in here right?"

"I have you in here because I demand some answers DiNozzo," Gibbs voice was slightly raised. "I need you to talk to me about what's bothering you."

Tony opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it again before looking away. There was so much to say but every time he looked at Gibbs all he could see was the no-nonsense marine. The man was tough, he was emotionless and would laugh at anything he had to say. "I can't talk to you on this matter Boss," Tony replied eventually as played with his fingers in front.

"Why not?" Gibbs asked.

"You're a marine Boss," Tony said. "I _can not _talk to you about everything."

"I'm human as well," Gibbs actions went back to normality which went back to his reflexive self and gave Tony a headslap. An action he wished he rewind time and take it back. Tony had been on edge for some time now. Gibbs felt the fist connect with his jaw and it took all self control he had to not enter a brawl in such a confined place. Instead he grabbed Tony's arm and pushed him face first into the elevator wall while holding the arm up as far as he could without causing serious injury. Tony gasped in pain and Gibbs waited for him to stop squirming before releasing the grip.

The elevator was kicked back into action with angry push of the red button.

Mcgee acted agitated when he saw them step out of the elevator and to their desks in complete silence. They made the B-line for the desks and weren't about to deviate. "Ah, Boss?" Mcgee broke the silence. "We have a situation."

There was only a silent response from their boss. When they were only greeted by a glare from him only then did they realize that he was indeed listening.

"There's trouble at Miss Orson's residence," Kate continued where Mcgee had left off. "They called us and at the moment there's a real problem over there," She said trying to elaborate when they were answered with the cold quietness.

* * *

_**Brenda Orson Residence**_

Jackson was a well built marine. His height allowed him to tower over almost anyone he came across. Brenda had barricaded herself behind the safety of a locked door but was still fearful that the marine would soon barge through.

"You can't stop me from seeing my daughter!" Jackson shouted at the door. "I'm a damn marine… I fought for this country and this how it repays me?"

Jackson's anger had risen to boiling point. All he wanted to do was see Nicole and now she was crying because she wanted to see him but the stubborn mother and law didn't want any of that. He stepped onto the porch.

"Freeze!" Gibbs shouted. "NCIS," they just got there before Jackson was about to put a boot through the door.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for the marine to cool down. The situation was helped along by Tony having his weapon pointed right at the guy's head, just itching for a reason to shoot. The anger displayed just reminded him so much of his father.

"Kate… Go and check to see if the others are alright," Gibbs said.

Mcgee and Gibbs talked with the marine while Kate went inside. Tony felt like an outsider. Hell, that's what he deserved anyway. That was the general consensus of his family. His father always said that everyone would wash their hands off him and he'd be damned if he'd ever let them.

Since the situation was diffused and there was no actual harm or damage done, Jackson was let go after a major cooling off period. It seemed as if Gibbs was letting everyone go and it was really getting on Tony's last nerve.

* * *

_**NCIS Gym.**_

Tony increased the speed of the treadmill till he was in a running pace. His lungs were struggling to intake the oxygen his body needed but he didn't care. The only thing that mattered was torturing the hell out of himself. Hitting Gibbs was the last thing he wanted to do, after all it was just the usual headslap. He never meant to lash out at anybody and before long Tony's body was just screaming out for him to stop. Reluctantly, he obeyed as it felt that his body would give out.

He hit the showers and cleaned himself of all the sweat that had built up.

* * *

_**Court Case: Brenda Orson vs Jackson Andrews**_

Tony had arrived at the courtroom just in time to hear the decision. To Tony, there'd be only one correct decision. He listened with his eyes closed and back up against the wall as the judge gave her decision. His body wanted to leap for joy when they ruled in favor of Brenda Orson and now she was the soul custodian of Nicole Andrews. Now that business was taken care of, they could get back to solving the murder at hand.

"Thank you so much," Brenda told Tony. "If there's anything we can do for you."

"Just look after her," Tony replied. "That's all I ask."

"How about joining us for a celebratory dinner?" Brenda asked.

Tony shook his head. "I must be getting back to work," he answered. That was true, he was on an extended lunch break but thought he'd not push it to far.

* * *

_**NCIS Bullpen**_

Mcgee watched Tony walk into the bullpen and saw Gibbs only look up from his work for a split second. For a couple of days now, their relationship looked nonexistent. Mcgee preferred them to be arguing over something, this silence was just unnerving. Kate had picked up on it as well and commented openly to Mcgee about how pale Tony looked and the fact that he looked thinner around the face.

His vision was becoming blurry at the computer screen. Tony rubbed his eyes and closed them for a moment as a wave of dizziness hit. The action had not gone unnoticed by Gibbs. Even though they weren't speaking, he'd been keeping a watchful eye on his senior field agent. Gibbs stood up and approached him and placed a hand against his cheek, Tony flinched slightly at the touch.

"When did you last eat?" Gibbs asked him.

"I got something just before I got back here," Tony replied.

Gibbs eyed him, not believing it. "When did you last eat?" Gibbs asked.

Tony refused to answer that question for awhile. "I'm fine Boss," he answered being as vague as possible.

"Stay here," Gibbs said.

Well where was Tony going to go? There was still so much work to do. In about ten minutes, Gibbs had returned with a chicken and salad roll and placed it in front of Tony. For awhile he just looked at it as if it was a foreign object.

"I'm going to the cafeteria," Tony said as he took the roll and left the bullpen.

"Where have you been Tony?" Abby had heard about the Gibbs/DiNozzo silence from Mcgee who she managed to keep as her personal mole. "I haven't seen you much," she was worried about her brother.

"Been busy Abbs," Tony answered.

"You ok?" She sat on a chair opposite.

Try as he might, he could never lie to Abby. "Things are going to hell Abbs," he was somewhat detached, talking without emotion. "I've blown everything."

Abby figured that this had gone just a little too far and thought that this had to end. "Do you really want my help with this?" She asked.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Hell From 12**_

Tony looked over at Abby and waited for her to give him the great pearl of wisdom that she had been known to do. She had tidbits of advice for any person in any given situation. However, it still would be up to the individual to heed it.

"What's that?" Tony asked.

"You have to talk with Gibbs… Tell him everything," Abby said. "Sure he has a very gruff exterior but Gibbs cares deeply… Don't you see that when you hurt, he hurts to? He cares very deeply," she said.

That was something he truly couldn't believe… Not now, not again. "If I tell him, he's going to really hate me," that was the one thing Tony was certain about.

"He won't think any less of you," Abby replied placing her hand on his. "You have to trust him."

"I just don't thing he'd want to hear it anyway," Tony resigned himself to truly believing that. Since when has his opinion mattered anyway? Half of the time he spent getting scolded and the other half trying to impress. The impressing part never worked. Perhaps the only person he was fooling was himself.

Abby noticed his demeanor reach down to the lowest she's ever seen it. The cheerful Tony DiNozzo was obscured by a troubled soul. "You're coming home with me tonight," Abby said. She was afraid what he might do, especially to himself. At least, if it push came to shove, she could become a sounding board.

"I don't think…" Tony said.

"I didn't _ask _you," Abby quickly responded to cut him short. There was no way he was going to be alone. "I'm ordering you," she said with a smile. The smile went unrequited. She could tell that he listened and he dared not say no to such a direct request.

"Alright," Tony replied as he slid his roll over to Abby. "You might as well have the rest of this," he said.

* * *

_**Abby's place**_

Tony couldn't help but offer a smile. With her, it was a matter of 'you get what you see.' The small house echoed her lab with abstract paintings and photographs of different injuries. The main bookcase was filled with criminal nonfiction and a couple of Stephen King books. Tony raised an eyebrow when he saw a Winnie the Pooh book. Everything seemed to fit except that. One day he might have to ask.

"Have a seat," Abby ordered him.

The smell of cooking of tomato, onion and basil filled the room which Tony immediately recognized as Chicken Cacciatore. "Smells good," Tony said as he eyed the cream colored carpet before keeping an eye in the direction of the kitchen. "You don't have to cook me anything you know," he said. "I don't want you to go to any trouble for me."

He could hear her sigh from the lounge. "Do you think I don't eat? I'm starving and making some extra for you because I invited you," Abby replied. "What kind of host would I be if I didn't make you dinner?"

It was Tony's turn to sigh. All afternoon he'd managed to avoid any real conversations with the team. Alienating the team was the best way to become detached. It saved him from the emotional torment of being dumped. "Thanks," Tony took the plate from Abby's hand. "Looks and smells good," he commented.

"Thank you Tony," she said exuberantly. It had dawned on him earlier, the only reason she wanted him there was to talk.

"I'm not in the mood for talking," Tony stirred the food before digging into it. His appetite had left him and the last thing he wanted to do was eat but he had to eat Abby's food. "Tastes good," Tony commented.

Abby smiled. "I don't expect you to talk," she said. "I just wanted to have a few drinks and nobody should drink alone."

Tony sighed again. His behavior must've been rubbing off on Abby or she must be rebelling against something. It would be just another reason for Gibbs to be pissed off. "Perhaps I should just take the alcohol home and drown everything," Tony replied. The statement just got an angry look from the Goth.

"Here… Let's just have a couple," Abby said.

Two drinks turned into three, three drinks turned into four and after that Abby had stopped pouring herself a glass. Tony was never a talker but fill him with some alcohol and the lips become loose. Soon Tony found himself sitting on the floor with his back to up against the table.

"You know I wish I could tell Gibbs everything," Tony slurred and spoke slowly. "He's actually the longest relationship I've ever had with a man. Ler-Jeth Gibbs is a great man of which I could never live up to," Tony lowered his head. "You want to know something?"

"Only if you want to tell me," Abby said.

Tony thought for a moment. He had just enough to not hold back and not enough to lose his faculties. "I run every two years because I'm a scared little boy. Closeness scares the hell out of me, cause I know if people get too close to me they'd either hurt me or I'll end up hurting them." Tony eased himself back on the couch and rested his head back. "It's a given thing. That's the only constant thing in my life. Relationships suck," Tony threw his hands up in the air. There wasn't too much in his life that was for certain.

"What about us?" Abby asked in a somewhat hurt tone.

"We're different," Tony snorted. "I trust you, you're there. We'll never part on angry terms," he edged himself closer to Abby's chair. "You're the sister I never had Abbs," Tony said solemnly. She was always the sister to him.

"You're sweet Tony," Abby was having problems trying to understand the slurring words but she got the gist of it. "I see you as a brother also. We're all like family," she said.

"Not all," Tony replied automatically.

"I got an idea," Abby said suddenly. This caused Tony to develop somewhat of a nervous look. When Abby said anything like this, God only knew what was around the corner. "I'll pretend I'm Gibbs and you practice what you want to tell him," Abby said.

Tony blinked. She had some downright crazy ideas but they were usually right. It was turning out to be a very talkative night. "Alright… I'll play your little game," Tony said.

"What you want to tell me DiNozzo?" Abby asked.

"He doesn't sound like that," Tony laughed.

"What you want to tell me DiNozzo?" Abby lowered her voice and made herself sound rough.

Tony thought that the whole idea sounded ridiculous but decided to play along to humor Abby. "Alright Boss," The alcohol and the absurdity caused Tony to laugh.

"Spit it out DiNozzo," Abby gave him the mock look.

"The way I've been treating you," Tony said. "The way I've been treating everybody has been really bad." He said. "You were right about two years coming up and I don't know, you're the best relationship I've ever had and I'm mad as hell at myself for jeepor-jeopardizing that… I want to run," Tony continued to slur as he concentrated on each syllable.

"Damnit DiNozzo, you know you can speak to me about anything," Abby said. "What made you feel this way?"

Tony took a long time to answer and he shook his head. She didn't sound anything like Gibbs really but the thought of this exercise was about to cause Tony to lose his nerve. This wouldn't be the last time he'd have this conversation. "My father believed in a strong sense of – oh this is ridiculous," Tony said loudly.

"Oh, you were doing so well," Abby was now sitting next to him and began running her fingers through his spiky hair.

"If Gibbs started doing that, I'll be afraid, very afraid," Tony snorted and Abby laughed as well. "If you can stop playing with my hair Boss… My father believed in a sense of discipline and honor and he thought the best way to teach that once I reached thirteen was to send me to military school so I could get into the military," Tony said. Remembering that day was painful. "When I told him I wasn't going to do that that was when I was given the ultimatum. Follow the road or leave," Tony said as he pointed to the door. "When I refused to follow his orders he beat me badly and when I still refused he gave me a handful of cash and sent me off to my Uncle," Tony lowered his head. The stay with his uncle didn't turn out any better. "My Uncle always saw me as a thorn in his personal life and ignored me. I would have been better living on the street," Tony stopped talking. He had said a lot more than he'd planned to.

"What makes you think I wouldn't listen to you?" Abby said as she stayed in Gibbs mode and slapped Tony on the back of the head.

"You're a marine Boss," Tony answered. "I dodged the duty and refused to go into the army. I disappointed everybody. Most of all… It hurts to disappoint you," Tony wiped his face and eyes.

"I'm not disappointed," Abby said. "I became a marine out of choice. You didn't want to," she stopped the voice. "See how easy that was?" Her normal voice returned.

"It is when it's you," Tony said.

* * *

One second, Tony was talking to Abby and the next second he was waking up in bed with Abby sleeping behind him with her head buried deep into his back. The stomach turned violently as the mix of alcohol and exhaustion really deteriorated his alcohol tolerance level. He lifted Abby's arm and staggered quickly into the bathroom just in time to stick his head over the bowl.

Abby felt the disturbance on the bed and she was fully awake when she heard Tony retching loudly in the bathroom. She waited at for him to stop before making her way to him. He reached up and flushed the toilet before lying on the cold tile floor.

"I can't do it," Tony said quietly as he tried to get his breath back and hide the post-vomiting cramping that plagued him. "I hit Kate, I hit Gibbs… I just don't know why."

"You what?!" Abby asked, shocked at this revelation. She hadn't heard any of this news going around.

"I don't know why," Tony replied. "I can't do this… But I guess you're right I have to tell them… He'll kick me to the curb," he sighed as he closed his eyes. "He won't be the first and won't be the last but I'll bounce back… I always do," he said.

"Gibbs won't kick you to the curb," Abby lifted him to his feet. "If he does he'll have me to deal with," She asked.

Tony laughed once. "You should let me go… You should get away from me. I'll end up hurting you to," he said in a pitiful tone.

They kept the same positions on the bed and Abby reached over and held him. "How'd I get into the robe?" Tony asked.

"You passed out on the couch and I took your clothes off and put you in the robe before getting you into bed," Abby answered the question.

Tony sniffed a bit as he held onto Abby's hand. "I'm sorry… You're right, I should talk."

"I'm Abby, I'm always right," Abby laughed.

"Yeah Abbs," Tony replied. "That you are. I don't want to lose anybody. I love the team. But there are some things that will always be constant."

Abby felt her hand touching the cheek of Tony. He had maneuvered her hand to the cheek and she felt him sobbing. Her hand was becoming damp as the tears freely flowed. "You can break the cycle Tony," she told him in a sympathetic voice.

* * *

_A/N: I like exploring the Abby/Tony relationship. The last chapter, about when Kate and Tony was following Michael in the supermarket and he said "We've lost interest in the peas" and that whole thing, you should watch a movie called Guarding Tess if you don't get it._

_Also I must apologise for the stupid mistakes I've made in previous chapters. Now they've been pointed out, I can make sure not to let them happen again._

_Special thanks to crockettsgirl for help on this chapter. She's a great sounding board._


	10. Chapter 10

_**Hell From 12**_

Gibbs had McGee look into the route of the dumpster truck. His gut instinct had told him that the murder weapon had been dumped. If they could rifle through the garbage that was picked up, they might be able to go from there. Right now, they had nothing. If they couldn't luck into a lead soon, this would turn into a cold case and it'd be a cold day in hell before he let that happen.

"Boss," McGee said in a cautious tone. He waited for Gibbs to look up. "The dumpster truck had already gone through and delivered the garbage to the landfill," McGee continued.

The action that followed was expected. Gibbs hit the desk with frustration. The thought of miles and miles of garbage wasn't an endearing thought.

"I've talked with the supervisor there and they're marking the section out and it'll be ready for us to go through," McGee finished what he was saying. Before anything else could be exchanged Tony entered the bullpen.

"Good of you to join us DiNozzo," Gibbs watched him. Now his gut shot into overdrive. Tony usually comes in immaculately dressed in expensive clothes with ties. But now he was wearing something that looked like it was from the cheap rack of K-Mart and clearly missing a tie, the collar was half up and half down.

"Yes Boss," Tony still felt he had a little hangover since his head was killing him. It seemed that every time he ate, his body rejected it and he really couldn't bring himself to blame it for that.

"Grab your gear," Gibbs told them when Kate made her way back.

* * *

_**LANDFILL**_

They arrived at the landfill around ten am. With the mood that Gibbs was in, it was lucky that the supervisor was in a very accommodating mood just as long as he wasn't the one who had to search through all the garbage. The section was pointed out to the NCIS team and quickly got to work.

"I'll leave you to it," the supervisor said as the others studied the mound of god-knows-what.

"Be very careful," Gibbs warned. "I don't want any stick injuries."

"Why don't you stand aside Kate? We'll take it from here," Tony nodded to Gibbs and McGee.

"What?" Kate almost shouted. "If you think that I'm afraid of getting dirty," she said. Quite annoyed that Tony could sound so chauvinistic. Oh wait, this was Tony she was thinking about.

"Of course you're not Kate. I didn't say that… Of course you're not afraid of getting dirty," Tony said. "I just don't think this is something you should do," he continued.

"Cut the chauvinistic BS Tony… I know that's all you know," Kate responded negatively since he was obviously trying to take a jab at her.

"DiNozzo… Todd!" Gibbs shouted to them all he seemed to do was separate the two agents from each other lately. "Get to work," he ordered.

Tony rummaged through his section of the sector without his usual exuberance. There was nothing exciting about rummaging through a large pile of trash. Tony couldn't believe some of the stuff that people threw out and was also thanking god that he decided to wear cheap clothes.

"Dad said I belonged on the trash heap… Said I should've been thrown out with the rest of the garbage when I was born," Tony made a comment as he put some of the trash aside. This was going to take along time.

"Say something DiNozzo?" Gibbs said.

"No,"

Kate had put more into another pile when she stopped to take a breather. "Hey, this is really bad," she laughed. "I can't believe how much of this junk accumulates. How many peoples' trash is here?"

"Quit the trash talking Kate," Tony laughed as he threw some more rubbish onto his pile and began sorting through what was left.

Gibbs rolled his eyes as he was setting through his own pile. His two seasoned field agents were never ones to let up on each other. "Do we get to keep anything we find?" McGee asked. Everyone stopped to look at him since he usually kept quiet while doing what he had to do unless it was needed for him to explain something.

"Did you find something?" Gibbs asked.

"No boss," McGee answered.

"Then shut up McGee,"

Just before lunch Gibbs had excused himself in his silent matter before leaving the other agents to go about the garbage search. "Kate, you look like you're about vomit," Tony said. "Why don't you take five?"

"Me?" Kate asked. She'd been shifting through rotten food stuff but it was going to be a cold day in hell before her actions were dictated by Tony. "Well you look like you're about to fall down…" She said before pausing to have a really good look at him. It was true, lately Tony had seemed to really deteriorate and then there were a couple of times she thought she'd stumble across him unconscious somewhere. "Are you feeling alright Tony?" She asked in a concerned tone.

"Probie?!" Tony shouted at McGee who stopped what he was doing and looked at Tony and then Kate. He suddenly felt like he was going to be dragged into something he didn't want any part of. "Who do you think needs to take five?" Tony asked.

"Umm, ah. Yeah," McGee was trying to think of the best way out of the situation. "Well, yeah," he suddenly thought of it. "Me! I need a break," he screeched.

"Out of us two," Tony said. But it was too late, McGee had already made his way out of the trash and went to the tap to take a drink. "You should join him," Tony said. "You look thirsty."

Kate shook her head. "I'll drink when you drink," she replied.

"Suit yourself Kate," Tony responded as he got back to work. If she didn't want to take the break he offered then so be it. Even if Kate was right about how he looked, there was no way knowing that he'd let her know that. People shouldn't show how bad they feel. Tony felt his body violently retched and he doubled over.

"Are you alright Tony?" Kate had heard the gag.

"Fine Kate," Tony coughed. "We're wading waste deep in garbage. Just great," he answered.

* * *

The NCIS vehicle screeched to a halt in the way that Gibbs usually drove. "Found anything yet?" He asked while stepping out of the vehicle. A chorus of no's answered him. "Break for lunch," Gibbs said.

Gibbs handed each of them a plastic bag. "Did they let you in smelling like that Boss?" Tony asked, daring to make a joke in the situation knowing perfectly well that they all smelt worse than him.

"No DiNozzo," Gibbs said sarcastically. "I waited outside until the food came out to me," he said.

"Yes Boss," Tony said as he looked into the bag and pulled out a hamburger. Gibbs wasn't too much of a stickler for healthy eating but he watched Kate pull out a tub of salad and McGee had some sort of sandwich in his hand and was wearing a contented smile.

They ended up having lunch well away from each other and were constantly complaining about how bad each other smelled. Even McGee was beginning to get into the act. They were sick and tired off the trash and reverted back to bantering with each other. If the others weren't already separated, he would've done it.

Tony stood up. "I'm going to get a drink of water," he said.

His lips were dry and he gulped a few handfuls of water before coming up for breath but that did nothing to wash down the burger since the greasy meat was threatening to come right up. His knees gave out and ended up on all fours as he seemingly tried to hack up a hairball. The whole body convulsed as he attempted to stop it from happening and tried to do it quietly but eventually lost the battle and lost everything. The continual retching wasn't going to let up and he began to shake uncontrollably as his arms struggled to hold up his body.

"Back to work," Gibbs said as soon as McGee finished up. "Where's DiNozzo?" he asked.

"I'll find him," McGee said.

It didn't take long for McGee to find Tony trying to pull himself up while trying to throw up his stomach. "Tony?" he exclaimed.

"Help me up Probie," Tony said.

"I should call Gibbs," McGee was scared. Sure he's seen people sick before, but Tony couldn't even get to his feet on his own power… This was serious.

"Don't you dare… You do… You're dead," Tony warned.

"But…" McGee replied. "Ah… Boss!" He assumed it'd be safer to have a really sick Tony mad at him rather than a pissed as hell Gibbs. "Boss!"

"I swear you're a dead man Probie," Tony said in between gags. Whatever his body was trying to expel it wasn't succeeding.

"What is it Mcgee?" Gibbs said with annoyance. Kate had already gotten back to work despite everyone else failing to do so. As soon as he saw Tony any sign of annoyance quickly evaporated, "DiNozzo," Gibbs said.

"I'm good Boss," Tony replied as the feeling subsided. Despite the protesting, Gibbs helped Tony to stand up. "Greasy hamburger," Tony explained.

"Bullshit… Hold him up McGee," At first McGee wanted no part of this situation. Obviously Tony was in no shape to fight him off. "Did you catch a needle?" He checked his hands for any puncture marks,"

"I'm good Boss," Tony said. "I just feel a little funny that's all," he added.

"Help me get him to the car," Gibbs ordered.

"I found it! I got it!" Kate said as she virtually leapt out of the pile holding up the candlestick high in the air.

"Behold… Excalibur," Tony joked to try and convince everyone he was indeed good.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked as she began putting the candlestick in an evidence bag.

"Nothing… I'm good," Tony explained. At that moment, Gibbs was ready to let go of Tony and have him crawl to the car and that would have been being nice.

"Get in the damn car," Gibbs said.

* * *

_**NCIS Autopsy.**_

Anyone who had a thermometer shoved into their mouth was rarely given the opportunity to argue. "Hey," Tony swung his legs back and forth and took the thermometer out of his mouth like a cigar. "Did I tell you about my ex wife? She left with half of everything… Almost everything, I got the whole bills you see. Bang bang," Tony said as he waggled his eyebrows.

"Anthony," Ducky set up the thermometer again and shoved it back in. "The quicker you let me do this, the quicker you get out of here," he checked the blood pressure.

"Yes Ducky," Tony smiled.

Just looking over him there was enough to notice that the kid was sick. The eyes were bloodshot and the weight loss was troubling, that and the fact that he was retching to the point beyond exhaustion.

"Good… You've not been sleeping well?" He asked, though the answer was already known.

"You know how it is," Tony shrugged his shoulders.

"Drinking?"

"Somewhat," Tony answered.

"Eating?" Ducky asked. There was silence. "Eating habits?" Ducky prodded.

"On and off. I just can't seem to keep anything down," Tony said.

"Have you been making yourself sick?" Ducky asked.

"What? No!" Tony said.

"Something troubling you?" Ducky asked another question.

Tony ripped off the blood pressure kit and spat out the thermometer across the room. "I know exactly what it is that's bothering me," Tony said standing up. "I have to go see somebody," he said as he left without giving Ducky a chance to protest.

* * *

_**NCIS Bullpen.**_

Fortunately they all had a shower and Tony had called Abby to meet him in the bullpen as he told her that he was finally going to have that talk with Gibbs. If it was eating him apart then it was about time he alleviated this internal hatred. It was about time he ended the punishment.

"Can I talk with you Boss?" Tony asked standing in front of his desk.

"What did Ducky say?" Gibbs asked.

"Boss, I need to talk," Gibbs gave Tony his undivided attention which shocked him. "I know I've been hell to be with lately… Its these cases, they remind me so much of my childhood Boss," Gibbs was about to say something. "You know I was beaten regularly," Tony said, speaking faster than normal. He just wanted it over so quickly. "This case just has touched me deeply… And I realize that our relationship scares the shit out of me boss," Tony paused.

"Why would it do that DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"If I get too close to people, they either hurt me or I end up hurting them… It's inevitable," Tony replied. "I know it's going to happen with you because there's something in my past that's going to make you hate me… My father always disciplined me physically and when we're old enough to go to a military school we had to go… Dad always believed that to prepare for the future in business we had to perform service in the army to instill a sense of discipline and honor so we could be real men," Tony finally took a deep breath before going on. "When I said no, I didn't want to do that he beat me badly and asked me again. I hadn't changed my mind, so he kicked me out with some money and sent me to an Uncle who wished I wasn't alive," Tony swallowed a lump in his throat. "I'm so sorry to disappoint you Boss… I'm very sorry."

"Kate… McGee," Gibbs stood up and adjusted his jacket. "Do you mind leaving us for a couple of minutes?"

"Yes Boss," they replied.

Christ! Tony hadn't even realized the others. Now with the others out of the way, Gibbs was free to chew and spit him out with no witnesses. Except for Abby, but she was like an outside observer. Tony's body stiffened as Gibbs stepped around the desk and stood toe to toe.

* * *

_**A/N: Alright! Tony finally spilled his guts to Gibbs. Anybody want to hazard a guess at what Gibbs is going to do? I didn't realise the chapter was going to be as long as this. Have fun**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Hell From 12**_

_**A/N: LOL it was interesting to see all the views on how Gibbs should react to Tony. Was wondering about preconceptions. Thanks all for reviewing.**_

For an eternal second they stood toe to toe. Tony was already preparing to pack his bags or even clear out his desk. There would be no arguments, no tears no nothing.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me all this before?" Gibbs remained expressionless.

"For starters you were in the marines and I shirked my duty so of course you're going to be mad as hell and disappointed that I refused to join up," Tony answered. "I guess I was just trying to delay the inevitable."

Gibbs sighed allowing his gruff exterior to fall. "I could never be disappointed in you DiNozzo," he replied.

"But," Tony said.

"You think that just because I was a marine that I'd want everyone in the army even if they didn't want to?" Gibbs asked. "Have I given you any inclination that I wanted you anybody else for that matter to be in the military? It's always a choice," Gibbs looked deeply, making sure his senior field agent understood clearly.

"You're not going to kick my ass to the curb?" Tony asked with a stunned expression. The last time he mentioned anything about not joining up, he was beaten and kicked out. Gibbs looked like he was going to do that.

"No," he felt somewhat insulted that he'd somehow be compared to Tony's father. "I'll never betray you DiNozzo and I know you'll never betray me… I will not abandon you," his tone was soft and soothing. His hand reached out searching for another and when their hands interlocked, Tony was surprised to find himself pulled into a tight hug that he couldn't move from. Not that he was trying too hard to get away.

"Boss?" Tony said. This felt like a real awkward situation to be in. Tony felt the strong arms around his neck and showed no signs of letting him go.

"I'm never going to let you go son," Gibbs said.

Tony felt the last word go straight for the heartstring. Surely he couldn't have heard his boss right. Nobody had ever called him son that he could remember. "What you say, Boss?" Tony whispered as he resigned himself to resting his head on his shoulder. It'd be just a matter of time before Gibbs would push him away.

"I said I'll never let you go Son," Gibbs repeated.

No, he hadn't misheard him before. Nobody called him son. His heart was opening up like never before to the only person he'd been able to trust in years. "I think you're the first person that's called me that," Tony's voice resembled a whimper. "You've always been there for me… I don't have anything to repay you with. I bring nothing to give you in return."

"You're wrong DiNozzo," Gibbs said. He'd never expected anything in return. "You pulled me out of darkness and taught me to care for myself and others. Something I never did before," he said as he comforted Tony who was quietly sobbing into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry what I said to you about Kelly," Tony replied. "I just, I didn't."

"It's ok… You're forgiven, come on and one more thing, if you say you belong in the trash again… There'd be hell to pay." Gibbs said. "It sounds like you need to let it out," he said. "Come on Abbs."

"You heard that?" Tony asked feeling somewhat ashamed.

Truth be told, Abby didn't need too much of an invitation. Her family were coming together and healing her brother which Tony needed so much. He was a broken man that needed patching up. "Oh, comfortation, this is so, so sweet," Abby said.

The three way hug was eventually released. "Now, DiNozzo, I want you to go get a checkup by Ducky," Gibbs said. "I don't want any arguments."

"Yes Boss," Tony wiped his eyes.

* * *

Gibbs was relieved that the others had come back after Tony had left. Kate and McGee entered the bullpen and he motioned for them to stop in the centre. "I know you heard what DiNozzo said."

McGee and Kate nodded.

"I want you to not say anything," Gibbs said. It was a strong request rather than an order. "Don't press him or hound him. But if he needs to talk, listen," he said.

"Got it Boss," McGee answered and went back to his seat. For the time being, they were waiting for fingerprint analysis from the candlestick. That's if it was at all possible to find the fingerprint amongst all the crap.

"Is Tony alright?" Kate asked.

"He will be," Gibbs said. He just hoped that everyone had the good sense to tread carefully. The last thing he wanted to do was have Tony go backwards on this.

* * *

**AUTOPSY**

Ducky checked the pulse, BP and temperature. The BP was lower than the norm that was for Tony and his temperature was slightly elevated. From the condition that Gibbs had told him, it wasn't surprising actually.

"What's the verdict Duck?" Tony asked.

"Well, you my boy aren't in a healthy state," Ducky said. "I already assume that you know that your body's reaction to food and anything like that is your subconscious is punishing yourself," he said removing the BP kit and putting the thermometer away.

Tony didn't respond. The idea actually didn't sound too absurd. If this was caused by him then he should be able to stop it.

"I can prescribe you something to help you sleep," Ducky told him. "And you have to eat several times a day about five times a day."

"You're not going to recommend that I take time off are you?" Tony asked, the case was of importance and he couldn't be kicked off it at this point of time.

"I would if I believed I could get you to do that." Ducky answered.

* * *

**_BULLPEN_**

Gibbs had thought he was on a winner. That thought turned sour when the prints removed wasn't enough to get a positive match with anything. The only thing that was for certain was the fact that that was the very candlestick that was used in the murder of Linda Andrews. Perhaps it was time to get sneaky, a maniacal smile spread across his face as he knew exactly what to do.

Tony picked up his backpack and was about to head out when a cough caused him to turn around. "Boss?" Tony asked.

"You're coming home with me," Gibbs told him.

"Alright," Tony replied, clearly not in the mood to argue. "But keep taking me home with you, some people will begin to talk," he forced a smile. Gibbs walked past him and Tony braced himself for the familiar pain of a head slap that never arrived.

"Hang up," Gibbs said as he watched the news report on one of the small screens.

_This came in… The NCIS team investigating the murder of Marine Linda Andrews has come across a vital piece of evidence. The candlestick used as a murder weapon. NCIS has managed to get prints off of it and there's only a matter of time before Linda Andrews' killer is brought to justice according to an unnamed NCIS source._

"Someone's leaking information Boss?" Tony asked. That wasn't going to sit well with the boss since there were two things he hated… Leaks and the news and this were the two things rolled into one. Gibbs' reaction to the whole thing was almost amusing and somewhat troubling. He was smiling as if he… "You leaked the information?"

"No," Gibbs answered.

* * *

_**GIBBS RESIDENCE**_

_Where were the kids? None of them were safe. Then they were there, looking to me for help. I'd guide them through, I can protect them all. They were almost out of the dungeons where they were trapped. The intertwining catacombs must have been coming to an end. There was growling from every turn and the smoky breath could be felt from where I was standing. The breathing approached, there was no way out as I couldn't take the kids back. The hot breath was upon us. The beast came into sight with its horns protruding, looking as menacing as anything on Earth._

"_Well, boy… You've really led them out of safety and into hell," The beast said._

"_They weren't safe!" I shouted back, acting defiant. The face came out of the shadow and that was when the beast became recognizable. The defiant act was abandoned as fists flailed and it was impossible to defend oneself against the onslaught. But it wasn't just me… I couldn't stop the others from getting hurt. My catacombs had not only trapped me._

"_Stop! Please stop!" I still could never defend myself against my father._

"Wake up," Tony heard someone say. "Come on DiNozzo." But he still didn't dare to open his eyes and face whatever dark creature was before him. "Come on Son," the voice broke through his nightmare.

"Don't let him hurt them!"

"DiNozzo!" Tony felt his body being shook. "Come back."

"Boss?" Tony asked sleepily. For just waking up he felt really exhausted. "Just a dream that's all," he said.

Gibbs sat on the side of the bed and looked at him with concerned eyes. He thought for a moment and it was the back to back case that was breaking him physically and emotionally. "I'm going to recommend that you take some leave DiNozzo. More than recommend actually," Gibbs said. "You need some time."

"You're kicking me from the case?!" Tony yelled as he leapt out of bed to follow Gibbs down the hall.

"Not kicking… Taking," Gibbs corrected but it was of no use now.

"I have to be on this case," Tony stepped in front of him. "I need to be on this case," he told him. It was true, he couldn't stop what Daddy Dearest had done to him but he sure as hell can protect the kids these days.

"Are you blind? You're in bad shape DiNozzo," Gibbs said. "You need to take a look at yourself," he pointed to him.

"Let me stay on the case," Tony was almost pleading. "I'll be good. I promise I won't be sick anymore. I'll eat, I won't drink, I'll sleep. I won't be sick."

The pleading look drove Gibbs' patience to the edge. If he was left to his own devices while the team went gallivanting around, there's no telling how problematic he could get. "Alright then DiNozzo," Gibbs said. "You can still be on the case… But get this. You eat when I tell you to eat, drink when I tell you to drink and if I ask if you're alright, you better be damn well honest with me."

"Yes Boss," Tony answered with a look of relief.

But Gibbs just wanted to make sure Tony knew how serious he was. "If you break any of those conditions I'll drag your ass down to Bethesda and put an IV in your arm myself," Gibbs warned, making sure Tony didn't think it was an idle threat.

"But you don't have any medical training," Tony said. Gibbs' glare stopped him in his tracks. "But of course," Tony continued.

"Goodnight DiNozzo," Gibbs said.

"Night Boss."

* * *

_**A/N: Another nightmare… I like the nightmare, had to base it on that certain legend. And I love the Gibbs/Tony moments as well. And Abby's word, "Comfortation" someone mentioned it to me and I figured that they either misspelled comfrontation or it was deliberate. Hope you enjoyed**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Hell From 12**_

Tony waited in the bullpen and popped a panadol once Gibbs had left. His headache had worsened since the morning. After the catacomb nightmare he dared not to close his eyes and didn't get anymore sleep. "You're late Kate," Tony said to Kate as she placed her bag on the desk.

"Well it's always easy to be early when you ride with the boss," Kate said.

There was a moment of silence between them. "Ok, let me have it," Tony sighed but Kate only looked at him quizzically. "I know you heard what I said to Gibbs. Tease away Kate, I deserve whatever you throw my way," Tony elaborated.

It had to be true. He'd acted badly towards Kate and Gibbs but nobody seemed to notice or they didn't want to. Tony braced himself for the humiliating onslaught that was sure to follow.

Kate just sat down at her desk. "Actually, I don't have anything to say," she replied. On a usual day she would have jumped at the opportunity. When things cleared over, there'd be hell to pay. Until then, she was just going to bide her time building up the proverbial ammunition shed. "Are you doing ok?" She asked.

"I'm fine Kate," Tony answered. He felt as if the pills were finally working to dull the throbbing headache.

"Tony," McGee greeted as he walked in.

"Good morning Tim," Tony said without looking up. Tim looked at him for a second. Did he just hear Tony right? Did Tony just call him by his first name? That was way out of character.

"Are you fee…"

He was cut off by Gibbs walking into the bullpen and placing a chicken salad in front of Tony. "No thanks, I'm not," Gibbs turned to face him. "I'm not going to waste any time digging into this," Tony corrected himself without skipping a beat.

"Where is mine Boss?" Kate asked.

"And mine," McGee added.

Tony put the fork down as he stopped eating. "Here," he said.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said held the papers in his hands at him. "If they want something, they can go to the cafeteria and get it themselves… Shut up and eat," Gibbs said to him.

"Yes Boss." Tony resigned into submissive behavior. Gibbs had expected there to be some sort of rebellion from Tony as was the norm but he assumed the mention of Bethesda had totally pulled him into line. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Good," Gibbs said.

The phone rung and Gibbs answered it. There was something tense in the room when Gibbs rubbed his face and frowned. "Get your gear people," Gibbs said as he dropped the phone down. "Kate and McGee go down and requisition a surveillance truck with everything," Gibbs said. "Meet us at Bradstone Elementary."

"On it Boss," McGee replied.

"You're with me DiNozzo," Gibbs said. "We're going now."

"What's going on Boss?" Tony asked as he to packed hi Sig and followed Gibbs to the elevator.

"Michael, Jackson has hostages including Linda at Bradstone Elementary," Gibbs said. "Look at me DiNozzo… Are you good to go?" He asked.

"I'm good to go Boss," Tony stood up and Gibbs eyed him down for awhile.

"Let's roll," Gibbs said.

"Yes Boss," Tony replied.

They almost ran towards the elevator. Sure he didn't feel the best, but there was no way he could tell him that. Gibbs couldn't be left with an agent down. Of all the trouble Gibbs has gone for him, Tony just couldn't do that to him.

* * *

_**Bradstone Elementary**_

Local LEO was already in full force outside the elementary school. Gibbs was actually very thankful that when one of the people turned out to be Jackson Andrews a marine, they immediately called NCIS. Thankfully there wasn't anything that had to be undone.

"Excuse me, Boss," Tony said to make a quick getaway.

"Are there just the two?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes," Leo answered. "We know that they're somewhat armed but not to one extent," he said as he gave them the room number and a rough layout of the school.

Tony was coughing once he came back. "We're going here," Gibbs said. "They're both armed," Gibbs turned his attention to the LEO. "There's an NCIS truck on its way… Give them all the information."

* * *

Gibbs and Tony entered the school side by side. "You've been sick DiNozzo," Gibbs accused. "If you can't handle a simple salad there's something needs to be done," he told him. "Right after this, I'm taking you to Bethesda," It wasn't a threat, it was a Gibbs promise.

"I'm really ok," Tony said but Gibbs didn't reply.

A lot of the school had been evacuated and that allowed the two agents to move freely towards the room but seeing the school empty was almost spooky. Tony and Gibbs had their guns drawn. Of course there were only two gunmen but it was impossible to tell what kind of set up they had.

"Look out," Tony said as he shoved Gibbs out of the way. He'd seen the pistol aimed at them only just before the shot rung out. It disappeared around the corner when Tony got off a couple of rounds.

Gibbs was about to run after the man, but his footsteps were the only ones moving. "Argh… Boss," Tony said as he slumped against the wall.

"If you're going to be sick again DiNozzo, god help me I'll…" Gibbs' cut himself off as he saw his senior field agent pressing his hand against the side of his stomach and saw some blood covering the fingers. "DiNozzo," he eased him to the floor and went for his phone.

"No, Boss." Tony said. "Protect the girl," he winced and almost cried in pain as Gibbs lifted the shirt to check the wound. "Help me get this shirt off," Tony said. "Then go."

"I'm not leaving you," Gibbs said as he rolled Tony over and removed the shirt to before tying it around his waist. "I'm going to call the medics," Gibbs said.

"Go," Tony said as he painfully placed a hand over the shirt. "I'll call for help," he assured him. "It actually doesn't feel that bad."

"Damn it DiNozzo," Gibbs snarled.

"Damn it Boss," There tones were equal. "You could have been well after them now and I could have been well on my way to calling help… Now go!" Tony ordered as he hurt his head when he laid back down.

Gibbs tried not to stare at how thin Tony looked. How he'd managed to keep working while his body was going through its own personal hell was beyond his understanding but he assumed that Tony couldn't last much longer doing this to himself. Gibbs thought about arguing some more but there was no chance in hell of doing anything while he was kneeling down. "Keep pressure on," Gibbs said.

Gibbs rounded the corner with his pistol drawn. He had finally made it within a few rooms where the kids were being kept. It was a coldhearted son of a bitch to use children this way. There was a click behind him but before he could react he was knocked forward by the weight of the door and the cold steel of a weapon's barrel was pressed in the back of the neck and it was pushing him, guiding him to the direction he wanted to.

He could see Jackson Andrews sitting on the floor in the classroom. "The other one's wounded, I have the dangerous one," Michael said.

"Good," Jackson responded as he stepped closer. "The great _hound_ Agent Gibbs. Because of you lot, I lost my daughter," Gibbs didn't give him an inch as he stood defiantly. "I could give you this big speech about why I'm doing this. I could give you all the logistics of it," Jackson said as he raised his own weapon and knocked him on the back of the neck and head causing Gibbs to slump to the floor, "But I won't," Jackson said.

* * *

Kate was mad as hell that they didn't wait for them to get there before entering the school. "Try calling them," Kate said to McGee.

"If they're going after them, they wouldn't have their phones on," McGee replied.

"Do it anyway," Kate snapped. She had a bad feeling about this.

McGee did as ordered and dialed the numbers. He looked at Kate. "There's no answer," he said with a concerned look. Gibbs' phone was on, but unanswered. He dialed Tony's number but it was the same response.

* * *

Tony's eyes fluttered open but the Gibbs' phone stopped ringing. The loud orchestra ringtone of his own phone startled him. "How long have I been out?" he asked to nobody. His phone soon rung till it stopped and he closed his eyes out of weakness. Tony couldn't even muster the energy to be bothered answering the phone. Gibbs was out making the world right, that was all he needed to know. How easy would it be just to close his eyes and let himself float away…


	13. Chapter 13

_**Hell From 12**_

"Give up?" Tony's eyes snapped open. It'd be a cold day in hell before he ended up under Ducky's knife. If there was one thing he wasn't going to do and that was give up, not until he was positive everyone was alright. He leant against the wall with his gun and kept one hand against the wall as he stumbled along. Gibbs' phone rung, but there was no way in hell he was going to go back and get it.

He was almost to the room, but also was almost passing out. But it really didn't feel like it hurt as much at the moment but he couldn't stop his teeth from chattering. The area felt terribly cold. Tony lost his balance and went crashing into the lockers loudly. The human body never won out against metal. The jolt of his body brought pain back to his body. The door opened as he slumped to the ground. It was Michael who walked out.

"Don't you guys know when to quit?" Michael asked.

"Sorry," Tony said. "I'm very sorry."

"Yeah why is that?" Michael asked.

"I don't have empathy for people who take kids hostage," Tony pulled his Sig out and fired right in between the eyes. It seemed that he had enough strength to push himself to his feet. His cell began ringing once again. "Tony," he said into the phone. "Can you call back again?" He flipped the phone closed.

McGee turned to Kate while outside. "He hung on me," he said to her. "Tony told me to call him back," he said.

"Well do that and let's go in," Kate was tired of waiting outside.

As soon as the phone began ringing loudly, he tossed it into the classroom before stumbling in himself. "Let them go," Tony held the Sig up and was grateful that momentary distraction had worked. "It's over," he said.

A marine may have been tough but they knew when combat was over and nodded to all the kids who went running and screaming out. "You know what's funny," Jackson said. "I was only doing the right thing."

"Like hell," Tony said hissed trying to stand up straight.

"You know what I've always wanted to do? Be in a duel. On the count of three we'll raise our guns and see who wins," Jackson said. "My life's over now anyway."

"You can still see Nicole grow up," This all sounded oddly familiar.

"From behind bars?" Jackson said. "This way she can get my life insurance oh and I have a safety deposit key." he said. "One."

"You're not Michael Douglas and I'm sure as hell not Rober Duvall," Tony said.

"Two," Jackson continued counting. "Three."

Tony's shot drowned out any sound that came from Jackson even though Tony did see a flash but the bullet must have missed by a long shot. He saw Gibbs lying on the ground as his vision began to blur. One of his legs got caught on a table's leg and he went flying forward.

"Argh." Tony cried out. "Gibbs? Boss? Are you alright?" He tried to wake Gibbs up by shaking him. "Oh hell," Tony said before all he could see was darkness.

* * *

The sound of yelling kids took McGee and Kate by surprise. They hid their weapons behind their backs as to not startle them as they ran past. "They've let the prisoner's go," McGee stated obviously.

"Let's go," Kate said as they began jogging through the empty corridors. There was only one door open as they got further into the school. That was the door to the room where everybody was being held hostage. They just managed to avoid tripping over Michael's lifeless body.

They were surprised that Tony was face down with his hand on Gibbs' neck who also was face down and unmoving.

"Go out and get the paramedics," Kate told McGee after she'd turned Tony onto his back. "GSW to the abdomen as well as an unconscious person."

"Ok Kate," McGee responded quickly.

"Tony? Tony… Can you hear me?" Kate asked as she checked the amount of blood that had gathered.

"Gibbs?" Tony managed to say in a whisper.

"It's Kate… Tony?" She said, a moan coming from Gibbs startled her. "Gibbs? Boss? Gibbs?"

"DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"No it's Kate… Kate Todd," Kate said as Gibbs sat up checking the back of the head. "Paramedics are on the way," Kate explained.

"DiNozzo?" Gibbs said as he saw the unconscious Tony. "How the hell did you get in here? What happened?"

"You need to lie down Gibbs," Kate said. "They're on their way, you're both are going to be ok," she tried to reassure the anxious marine. Kate gave a concerned look when Gibbs didn't argue. "What happened to you?" She asked.

"Pistol whipped," he answered holding the back of his head, there was a big bruise forming but at least there was no blood and that was a good sign.

* * *

_**Bethesda Hospital**_

Doctor Hound walked into the hospital lounge. "Are you lot here for Jethro Gibbs and Anthony DiNozzo?" He asked.

Ducky, Abby, McGee and Kate stood up in unison. "How are they Doc?" Abby asked before anyone else.

"Well Jethro Gibbs is suffering from a concussion but had to forcibly sedate the man since he would not settle down." Doctor Hound said.

"What's your name?" Ducky asked.

"Zoultan Hound," Zoultan replied without smiling. "I think my parents hated me," he noticed the looks on their faces.

"You're kidding," Abby responded. "Zoultan Hound?" She asked.

"How's Anthony?" Ducky asked.

"That's another thing," Zoultan said.

Ducky excused himself from the others and walked with Zoltan. "I'm an M.E." Ducky said.

"Right," Zoltan said. "Anthony DiNozzo is not in a good way. A man of his age should be able to fight this GSW but he's terribly weak," he explained.

"Doctor Hound, Anthony's in bad shape right now," Ducky said.

"That he is. We've removed the bullet without any complications but he's lost a lot of blood," Zoultan explained the situation. "We have blood being replenished, but the rest is up to Anthony now… We've done what we can right now," he continued solemnly. "This is my last couple of weeks at Bethesda. So, might I suggest that you all go home, get some sleep and come back in the morning?" He continued.

Ducky nodded and rejoined the others. "They are saying that it best we go home and come back first thing in the morning," Ducky said but neither of them made a move to the door until Ducky insisted that there was nothing happening tonight.

* * *

Gibbs finally awoke from sedation. His eyes were adjusting to the lights better and the headache had subsided. "Nurse?" Gibbs asked.

"Well hello there Mister Gibbs," She greeted cheerfully with a hint of a Texan accent. "Can I get you something?" She asked.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs replied.

"You're awake Mister Gibbs… I'm your doctor, Doctor Zoultan Hound. You and your friend Tony DiNozzo have really, really worried friends," he said.

There was an impatient look from Gibbs. "Where's DiNozzo?" he asked. "If you don't answer me, you'll be looking for another job."

That threat held nothing to Zoultan since he'd be soon out of here. "Hang on, he's in ICU right now," he answered Gibbs.

"I should go see him," Gibbs said.

"It'll have to wait till morning… If all goes well, he'd be out by then." Zoultan tried his best to not be intimidated by the glaring patient. "You want to aide his recovery don't you? I'm sure you won't want to hinder him," he continued. The almighty death stare caught him by shock and felt the sudden need to run. "What I meant, is he'd be… Uhm you know, you know what I mean… Ooh my pager's calling," Zoultan walked out the door just short of a run.

* * *

**_Tony's room_**

As soon as Gibbs had heard Tony was put into a private room he was by his side in a flash. It turned out that Doctor Hound was his doctor as well and for the moment refused to even make eye contact with Gibbs. "How's he doing Doctor Hound?" Gibbs asked.

"We've got him on antibiotics and some painkillers," Zoultan answered. "His body seems to be having problems fighting the effects of the wound."

"Will he be alright?" Gibbs asked.

"He should be, he's young," Zoultan said.

Tony stirred a bit before slowly opening his eyes. He immediately felt Gibbs strong hands close over his left. It was comforting and only one man could do that. He turned his head in a tired fashion.

"How are you?" Tony and Gibbs asked.

"I'm sorry Boss," Tony said. "I stuffed up, I wasn't good."

"What happened?" Gibbs asked.

"The kids?" Tony asked slightly agitated.

"They all got out," Gibbs answered. At that, Tony closed his eyes and he slowly went back to sleep.

"That's a good sign," Zoultan said.

"If he takes his meds and painkillers and rests a lot, is there any reason to keep him here?" Gibbs asked the doctor.

"He's vitals are still pretty weak but I guess not really," Zoultan said, "But strongly advise against it… It's best when a doctor can keep an eye on him."

"We have access to Doctor Mallard," Gibbs said.

"I still advise against it… But," Zoultan said.

"Not wise to debate," Tony said with his eyes still closed.

"Alright," Zoultan looked at both of them. "But I'd very much demand that you wait till later when he's a bit more lucid," he waited for the glare or even a huge chewing out.

"Duly noted doctor," Gibbs said.

* * *

Tony's lucidity had somewhat improved but he was still in a great amount of pain and moved around very gingerly. After much protesting, he was forced into the wheelchair by an ex marine and a doctor who wanted to stay on the good side.

"Boss, I think I can walk to the car," Tony said.

"Keep your ass on the chair or I'll tell them to put you in an induced coma," Gibbs said as he finished filling out the forms. He felt as if he was going to start shooting somebody if Zoultan wouldn't stop growling and Tony wouldn't stop complaining. "Shut up!" Gibbs growled back.

"Right, first I need to swing by NCIS and pick up some things," Gibbs eased Tony into the car and put the wheelchair in the back.

"You're not going to wheel me around everywhere are you?" Tony asked.

* * *

_**A/N: Well now, we're going to see some TLC from Gibbs now, Ok… I know it'd be too early to release any normal patient. But who thinks Tony would have a better recovery with Gibbs than a hospital… (counts hands) Well I do. Now, anybody would like to know where I got the name Doctor Zoultan Hound from? There's going to be a bit of humor in the next chapter, I've been waiting a long time for the next chapter.**_

_**Hope you all still liking it.**_


	14. Chapter 14

"I can walk," Tony said as Gibbs put the wheelchair near the car door.

Gibbs couldn't believe that he even dared to argue with him. "Sit on it," he ordered him. Though suddenly Tony just went quiet and he noticed him shifting in his seat with a lot of discomfort and he began to groan agonizingly. "Here," Gibbs said as he handed him a couple of pills. "Doctor Hound said that to take these if you're in pain."

"I'm alright Boss," Tony tried to convince him.

"Damn it DiNozzo," Gibbs said with mild anger. "Are you going to fight me every step of the way?"

Tony took the pills with some water and tried to get comfy. Well as comfy as one can get with being pushed around by your boss in a wheelchair. He was sure that everyone was having a good laugh about it. It was a funny thought though and part of it looked funny with a senior field agent going to work in his silky pajamas. _At least I have my pajamas rather than a robe that refuses to cover my ass._ Wouldn't that cause a stir amongst the people?

"Now, you stay here," Gibbs said as he wheeled Tony by his desk as he became intent in rocking the chair back and forth slightly. "Keep an eye on him McGee," Gibbs said as he walked up the stairs to speak with Tom Morrow.

"They let you out already?" McGee asked. He was surprised that they'd let such a sick looking and wounded person out of the hospital quickly.

"Apparently," Tony said as he continued rock back and forth. "Do you think I look like Tom Cruise?" He asked.

"Excuse me?" McGee looked utterly confused. "Umm, no." He answered.

"I have his wheels. Days Of Thunder and Born On The Fourth Of July." Tony replied before pointing down to the elevator. "Let's open up this baby and see what she can do," he raised his voice.

"I'm surprised, Doctor Zoltan Hound had let you out so early," McGee said as he shook his head.

The rocking of the chair stopped for a second and Tony's eyes went distant as he entered deep thought. "Zoltan the Hound of Dracula, otherwise known as Dracula's Dog, starred Michael Pataki," He wheeled himself up to McGee's desk close enough for him to see the glazed look in Tony's eyes. "Top B-Grade… Anyway, Gibbs managed to convince Doctor Hound that I'd be better off out of hospital," Tony continued. "I think Gibbs had Hound shit-scared."

McGee looked at him with a confused look. "Are you ok Tony?" He asked.

"Never better, Tim." Tony answered as he made the wheelchair go backwards. "I've had painkillers… Wow! Maybe more like pain murderers," he said as he continued backwards.

"Whoa there Tony," Kate stopped the chair.

"Hey Kate," Tony greeted sitting still for a moment in silence. For the life of him couldn't work out how to turn the chair around. "How you been?"

Kate sat back down with the coffee. "I think the question should be how are you?" She said.

"I'll be fantastic once I learn how to turn this chair around… Here we go," Tony said as he turned around. "Now I'm good," he answered Kate's question and rolled closer to her desk. "So, how are you?"

"I'm good," Kate said as she stole a glance at Mcgee's direction. Silently asking him what was going on.

"Stony has had some painkillers," McGee eventually caught her gaze as he tried not to smile.

"We met your Doc, Zoltan Hound," Kate said.

"Zoltan the hound of Dracula 1977, starring Pa-ta-pa-pataki," Tony answered. "Can I give you a bit of advice that I'm sure you won't get anywhere else?" he asked with such a serious face.

"Sure," Kate said carefully almost afraid to imagine where this could possibly go.

"If you ever see something in a tomb with a stake sticking out, do not pull it out," Tony said. "You can thank me for that one day. You should be thankful, nobody else will give you advice like that," he smiled before going back to rocking back and forth.

"You're right," Kate replied.

"Tony!" Abby squealed when she was almost at the other end of the floor. Everyone turned around.

"Abbs!" Tony shouted. "It's Abby from the Labby. Hey Abby, come on down… The price is right!" he said.

"Are you ok?" Abby asked. "I know you're not ok, but alright? You on the mend? Doctor Z…" She was cut off by McGee waving her hands in an attempt to stop her from mentioning the name, "Doctor Zoltan must've been under orders from Gibbs huh?"

"No reference and no warning Stony?" McGee asked from the other side of the bullpen.

"I already told YOU Tim," Tony said resting his head back to look at him. "And I warned Kate… If Zoltan there took one look of Abbs here, it'd probably grab the stake and put it back in… She'll freak that little Dracula Dog out," Tony said with a huge grin.

"Ok," Gibbs said. "Say bye DiNozzo,"

"Bye all," Tony waved. "Catch you on the flipside."

Everyone said their goodbyes and Gibbs took Tony home.

* * *

_**Gibbs Residence**_

Much to the shock of Gibbs, Tony showed no sign of dissent when Gibbs assisted him upstairs at his house. "Are you alright?" Gibbs asked with a concerned tone. Usually, any offer of assistance was quickly knocked back.

"I'm fine," Tony sighed. "I think there's something I missed,"

Tony gingerly climbed under the covers and settled down. "You did really good, you know that DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't know about that," Tony said. "I was hit by a bullet."

"But you were bleeding and in pain and you managed to get to the classroom by yourself," Gibbs replied with a look that could only be akin to pride. "You probably saved all the kids. Some might say your actions were heroic." Gibbs said.

The heart began to beat faster and it became difficult to take deep breaths since it felt like the heart was getting in the way. Of all the times he'd longed to hear some praise, to finally get some recognition… But actually receiving it just didn't sit right. The whole thing just sounded so foreign.

"I murdered two men Boss," Tony replied eventually. "I killed a father, I orphaned a child… I don't even know if I did the right thing."

"You did exactly the right thing Tony," Gibbs replied quickly. "It was I who screwed things up,"

"I was the one who got shot and left you a man down," Tony said even quicker.

"I shouldn't have gone inside without more backup," Gibbs replied as he looked at Tony lying there. He looked tired and needed a goodnight's sleep but wondered if that was possible. "We'll talk about it more tomorrow, ok?"

Tony nodded. That was the last thing he wanted to do. Things usually didn't sit well when people became convinced that he needed to talk. He pulled up the brown blanket over his body and attempted to evade sleep. Perhaps refusing the painkillers would keep him from falling asleep.

* * *

With an injured agent in his Kingdom, Gibbs was a pretty light sleeper. Just like any other time he'd brought home a sick or injured agent, a pin drop could wake him up, so when he heard the groan coming from the room down the hall, Gibbs was up in a flash.

"DiNozzo?" He asked as he turned the light on.

"Hey Boss," Tony said, acting nonchalant. "I didn't mean to wake you," he said as he put his hands behind his head.

"Pain meds are prescribed for a reason," Gibbs said as he handed him the pills and bottle of water off the nightstand. "Take it," he said.

There was always something about Gibbs that could make people do anything he wanted with just a tone or a look. Reluctantly, Tony downed the pills with water and eyed his boss cautiously. "Ever get the feeling you're missing something?" Tony asked. He had a niggling feeling in the back of his mind. Each time it was just about ready to surface, it seemed to dive back into that dark corner.

"For god's sake Tony, get to sleep," Gibbs told him.

"Yes, Boss." Tony said.

Tony woke up with a bit of a start and winced. The venetian blinds were drawn closed so it was impossible to speculate what time of day it was. Something still troubled him deeply. Jackson would have had a clear shot at him, how could the marine have missed? By all rights he should have been dead. Why wasn't he? Tony thought that he had to have reacted wrongly.

"Key?" Tony said to himself. "He said something about a key," that part of the memory came flooding back. Still none of it made sense, Gibbs must have heard him because he walked right in. "Boss, you have to call Ducky and ask if he's found a key on Jackson Andrews or in the clothes," Tony told him. "He'd mentioned something about having a safety deposit key or something," It was still somewhat a blur but there was a definite mention of a key.

"On it," Gibbs said, those words made Tony smile slightly but it soon faded. There wasn't too much to smile about really. Considering he was somewhat bedridden and the team was trying to tie up a case in which he just murdered the only two people that could possibly have had the answer. Though, the grandmother Brenda Orson may be the only one that could shed some light on the subject.

_**

* * *

**_

_**A/N: **_I think the readers should be congratulated for making it past the mistakes, oh and congratulations to me… This is the most reviews I've ever gotten for a story.

Coming up in the next chapter, with Gibbs being home, McGee decides to show him how to stay in contact.

And methinks Tony needs some patching up. Oh yeah the opening scene was inspired by an episode where I thought McGee was not surprised by Tony's actions while on painkillers... I wondered why. Or I thought it was one of those vets...


	15. Chapter 15

Gibbs opened the door when McGee knocked on the door carrying a thin case under his arm. He walked into the living room and pulled the laptop out of its case and placed it on the table.

"What's that McGee?" Gibbs asked him.

"It's a laptop Boss," McGee answered. "It's a portable computer, you can carry it around anywhere," he notice the glare that came from his Boss. "You already know that. Since you're going to be spending time away from the office… I'll be installing software as to allow a videolink between two primary computers," McGee explained. This earned him another glare. "I'll be inserting this CD so you can chat with us at work when needed," McGee dumbed it down as much as possible.

"You know that they still have telephones don't you McGee?" Gibbs asked with his usual sarcasm.

"But this way, if we need to email you something, we can." McGee replied. "I know you don't check your emails usually Boss. But the option is there if we need to," he continued. "Where's Tony?" he asked. "It takes some time to upload and install the components required… Yeah, um in other words it's going to be awhile before you can use it," McGee said. "Can I see how Tony is?" He asked.

"Is there something stopping you McGee?" Gibbs said.

This made McGee stop and think. "Ah, no?" He said with extreme caution. "Its just Abby made me promise promise to see how he is," he said.

"Well get going," Gibbs shook his head. He was quite surprised that Abby wasn't with McGee actually since she'd be all over the place making sure her proverbial brother is alright.

McGee knocked on the door after peering inside to see if he was awake or asleep. "Tony?" He asked.

"Hey Tim," Tony greeted as he put the plate with some pancakes on the dressing table beside him.

"Abbs wanted to make sure I came and saw you while I was here," McGee replied. "I am here to show Gibbs how to use webcam," he said.

Tony swung his legs over to the end of the bed. "Now this I got to see," he said.

"Are you sure you should be doing this?" McGee asked.

"Yes McW- Tim," Tony said. Tim watched him walk gingerly towards the door wondering if he should lend him an arm of support or just stand back. He decided not to, but chose to stick very close to him. "I'm fine Tim," Tony told him. "You can tell Abbs, I'm doing ok, just a little sore that's all," he said.

The way Tony walked down the stairs with the aid of the railing told McGee that it was much worse than a little sore. The movement didn't go unnoticed by Gibbs who only motioned to the couch. McGee looked stunned as there was no argument coming from the senior agent as he eased him down onto the couch. There was a gasping sound as he leant back in the couch without saying anything, the silence was disconcerting.

"Is this ready yet?" Gibbs asked McGee.

"Yeah it is," McGee answered as he sat in front of the laptop and finished the installation process and clipped the small webcam onto the corner of the monitor and plugged it in. "You're ready to go," McGee said as he placed the microphone in an accessible place. "Press that there for Kate's desk, that one there for autopsy and that button's for Abby's lab." McGee explained to him. "It may sound confusing, but you'd soon get the hang of it," he assured the older man.

* * *

Kate was talking to someone who was over in the next cubicle and laughing. Being the only one in the bullpen meant that she could relax a little and even have a joke around with someone. As the agent next door made her laugh, she patted him on the shoulder.

"Agent Todd!" Kate turned and looked frantically around, she was sure it was Gibbs' voice that had come through the bullpen but he was nowhere in sight. "Agent Todd!" he came through louder and clearer now.

"Sit back from the mic a bit," Kate could hear the sound of McGee's voice. Then she realized that the voices were coming from her computer. "So it's working then?" She asked.

"Gee, no Kate… I just wanted to call you and ask for your help setting up," Gibbs responded in the usual manner.

"How's the patient?" Kate asked.

"Patient's actually been behaving himself." Gibbs said.

"Tony? Tony DiNozzo?" Kate asked bewildered.

"You know that I'm in the same room right?" Tony's voice came from somewhere off camera. "I have been behaving myself," he said.

Gibbs didn't spend too much time talking over the laptop and soon closed it down once he knew everything was working the way it was suppose to. "Hey," Gibbs woke Tony up on the couch. "I'm going to the video store," he told him. "You want any particular movie?"

"No thanks boss," Tony replied. "I think I'll just turn in early again."

"How about I pick up some pizza on the way back," Gibbs smiled and gave Tony a little nudge to the shoulder. "Come on," he spurred him on.

Tony just shrugged his shoulders.

"You know you did everything right don't you?" Gibbs asked out of the blue. "You should stop punishing yourself for anything that goes wrong. This self flagellation needs to end," he squeezed Tony's neck in a comforting way.

"Why do they call it self flagellation, it should be self flogellation," Tony said. Gibbs' hand felt warm and comforting, "Anyway who says I'm punishing myself?" He asked, trying to think of the best way out of the uncomfortable situation.

Gibbs leant back. "For starters, you don't want to watch a movie and the other, you're knocking back the thought of pizza," Gibbs observed. "Are you really telling me that you have suddenly taken a dislike for pizza and movies?"

"I'm in recovery," Tony answered. "I don't think pizza is part of the healing process and I think Duck would have a fit if he heard you offered me pizza."

Gibbs sighed. "Let me worry about Ducky," he said as he stood up. "I'll be back ASAP. Now, can I trust you to lie down on the couch and not prance around while I'm gone?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes Boss," Tony answered.

* * *

_**NCIS**_

Gibbs was back for a few minutes after picking up a couple of James Bond movies from the video store and the pizza. Tony was asleep on the couch and he remembered the mad dash to the phone to leave the young agent sleeping. Tom Morrow wanted to speak with him urgently. So he had left the pizza and movies on the table and made his way back to NCIS.

As soon as he arrived at the building he'd ask Abby to go and keep Tony company while there was some business he had to take care of, she didn't need too much convincing. Tom invited Gibbs into the office as soon as he knocked.

"Good of you to come see me," Tom said to him. "How's Agent DiNozzo?" he asked.

"Recovering," Gibbs always acted guarded around any superior, refusing to give out any information that hadn't been asked for.

"Some reports have been coming in, kids telling their parents about what went on," Tom said, "Seems Agent DiNozzo has come across as heroic," Tom sat down on the chair behind his desk. "We're going to award him for it," he said as he almost scoffed at using Tony and award in the same sentence.

"I really don't think," Gibbs interjected.

"Agent DiNozzo did good to negate the hostage situation and freed the kids all while losing blood from a bullet wound," Tom said.

Gibbs rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not denying that… Sure, he deserves it," he continued. "I just don't think he's in the right mindset to see the award as it really is," Gibbs said which was true.

"Shouldn't he be the one to make that call?" Tom asked. "I don't think it's your place to say one way or the other… I know you hate award ceremonies Agent Gibbs," he said.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Gibbs replied quickly as he left the office.

Tony woke up feeling really stiffed. The first thing he noticed was the pizza and videos on the coffee table. He fought against the natural urge to have a piece. "Well you're awake Tony," Abby said coming from the kitchen.

* * *

**_Gibbs Residence_**

"Hey Abbs," Tony said as he lay back down. "Sorry that I've been asleep, I didn't hear you come in," he apologized.

Abby sat down on the chair, "No worries," she replied. "So, how you doing?" She eyed him as she searched for the God's honest truth. No way was she going accept a BS answer.

"Besides being in pain, besides not sleeping too well," Tony answered. It was impossible to lie to Abby. "Other than that, things are ok,"

The searching gaze continued to press for more. Abby was becoming more and more like daddy Gibbs each passing time. "You're depressed aren't you?" Abby said. He couldn't ignore her words.

"I don't know," Tony sat up and winced. There were a few things that were questionable. "I just don't think I'm me anymore," Tony found it so easy to be truthful to her. "Maybe I don't want to be me anymore," he said.

"Why not?" Abby asked.

Tony thought for a moment. "I don't think anyone wants the old me. That was just the annoying person that got on everyone's nerves. I don't blame them one bit," Tony said in a resigned tone as he looked at the ceiling. "It's about time I grew up anyway," he said.

"I don't think they'd want you any other way. Nobody wants you to be anyone but who you are," Abby replied. Nobody wanted him to change, Tony had a habit of keeping everything light so the job didn't seem as daunting as it otherwise would. "Did someone say something?" She asked.

"No," Tony said. Nobody said it, but he sure as hell sensed it. "Come on, I'm not the good little agent… I'm not like the model agent. You take McGee, now that kid is a model NCIS agent, he should have my job," he said. After all, McGee seemed to get along with the superiors and hardly got into trouble with anybody.

"But McGee's not you," Abby said. "You're still the senior agent."

"I don't know for how long," Tony replied.

There was that feeling of uneasiness in the air, the type of uneasiness that could only be attributed to one thing. "Thanks for staying Abbs," Gibbs said. "I'll take it from here." Gibbs waited for Abby to leave before taking a slice of the pizza.

"Hi Boss," Tony answered tentatively.

"Listen here Tony," Gibbs said without sitting down, "Its true that you're not a model agent as you said. But McGee's green and has academy training still embedded in him. I'm hoping some of you would rub off on you," Gibbs said.

"Yeah right," Tony scoffed.

Gibbs walked over to Tony and slapped him on the back of the head. "I want the thinking-outside-of-the-box-Tony to rub off on him and if I have to take a certain level of immaturity for that, I can live with it," he said.

"Yes Boss," Tony replied as he rubbed the back of his head.


	16. Chapter 16

Gibbs watched Tony enter a deep restless sleep. He had to basically force the painkillers down his throat. It seemed that the senior field agent was hell-bent on torturing himself. During his service in the Marine Core, Gibbs had seen more than a couple of people go down that self destructive path and it never ended well. That was something that he refused to let happen with Tony. The kid meant too much to him. Tomorrow would be the day he'd notify him about the award ceremony and deal with the fallout that may arise. He gave another concerned look once Tony tossed over once more before Gibbs decided to leave the room.

* * *

_**NCIS: Abby's Lab**_

It felt like she had been there for hours trying to find out everything she could about the safety deposit key as well as figure out all the possibilities where Jackson Andrews could have a box. Abby sniffed as she rubbed the bottom of her nose and mentally kicked herself for losing focus.

"Abigail," Ducky walked into the lab to find it strangely silent. "What are you still doing here? You really should go home," he had entered just in time to hear the sniff. The usual bouncy Abby was more sedated.

"I'm trying to find out where this key is for," Abby said as she turned around to face away from Ducky. "Once we find what Jackson was trying to leave for us. Since he told Tony about the key… I'm guessing whatever's in his safety box could hold the answers and I don't want to waste time. Maybe if we can find out the truth, we can appease Tony's trouble conscience and stop him from being," Abby stopped in midsentence.

"You know Abigail, I know you must be worried,"

"I've just never seen him so down Duck," Abby frowned. "I'm really, really worried about him… He doesn't want to be himself anymore since he thinks nobody wants the old him," she said. Before Ducky could respond the light came on in her mind. There was one way to show Tony they wanted him back as the same old guy. "I have this idea. I want everyone else to come with me," Abby concluded in such a way that left Ducky somewhat far behind in the conversation.

"Lead the way Abigail," Ducky followed her out of the lab.

Ducky didn't have the foggiest notion to what Abby was thinking but found himself thankful that McGee and Kate were still in the bullpen albeit on their way out. "Wait up guys," Abby said as she shouted across the floor. "We're going to have a movie night," she said.

"What?" Kate asked, the statement was so far out of the blue even for Abby.

"A movie night," Abby answered. "We're going to the video store, pick out a couple of movies and go down to Gibbs' place and watch a few movies with Tony," Abby told them exactly what was going on.

"Movies with Tony?" Kate asked simply before laughing a little. Abby's look meant that no refusal would be accepted.

"Nah," McGee was the one who dared to say no. "I've got something to do at home," that wasn't the answer Abby wanted and she immediately grabbed him by the ear. "Hey, ow, ow, ow," McGee managed to get out as he was getting dragged by the vice-like grip on his ear. "Hey!"

"I said, we're going to go and pick out a couple of movies and watch them with Tony at Gibbs' house," Abby repeated herself, this time a little slower.

"Yeah, yeah… Ok," McGee replied the correct way. "We're going to watch a couple of movies. "Ouch," he said once more.

Since they were all in agreement it was time to head to the video store.

* * *

**_Gibbs Residence_**

Gibbs sat on the chair while DiNozzo had his back propped up in between the armrest and the couch's back while he half-heartedly ate some of Gibbs' curry. It was spicier than he was use to, but it was still alright.

"They're giving you the NCIS award," Gibbs said, morbidly curios at what Tony's reaction to the news would be. On a couple of occasions, Tony had collected his awards and kept them somewhere and it was well known that he craved the acknowledgement that was lacking from his childhood.

"I don't think I should get one," Tony said after a moment of silence. "I didn't do anything to warrant it really," he continued.

"But you did, every

* * *

one knows it," Gibbs said. He wanted Tony to attend the ceremony. So often, he'd put his body on the line and received no recognition outside the team. "It'll do you good, you deserve it," he said honestly.

"I'll think about it," Tony said, giving Gibbs anything but a committed answer.

Gibbs noted the ghost of a smile appear on Tony's face when the other members of the team came through the door with a couple of movies. "I'll go and get something on for our guests," Gibbs went into the kitchen.

For awhile, Abby totally fussed over Tony and was willing to bow to his every whim. "I swear I'm ok Abbs," he assured her. "I just swear that with my pale face and your pale face, we could be brother and sister."

Abby made sure he was comfortable before the movie was stuck on. Everybody enjoyed the three movies, except for Tony, who'd drifted off to sleep about a quarter of the way through the second one but looked somewhat content at enjoying a movie with everyone. They continued to watch the movies anyway. He'd fallen asleep believing that maybe he was wrong and they did like his old self.

* * *

_**NCIS**_

Ducky had checked Tony's vitals since his sickly looking body didn't seem to show much signs of being on the mend. His temperature was elevated and the pulse uneven. By now, the young man should have been much better but his frailty from self negligence had put himself in such a state that his body was having trouble fighting it off.

"Sit down here," Ducky ordered him. He wished that Gibbs had made him stay at Bethesda so they could force his body to mend. Tony just nodded in response before sitting down. Gibbs had come over to make sure things were ok before mingling with other agents in the conference room.

Somebody came near him and sat just a couple of chairs away from him. The grey haired man took a drink from a glass before even acknowledging him. "I didn't think you'd be here dad," Tony said, the word was forced to leave his lips.

"I just had to see it for myself," Anthony DiNozzo Sr said to him and laughed. "Little Tony DiNozzo getting an award… I guess NCIS have a quota to fulfill, they had to give it to somebody," Tony's father said.

Tony looked up momentarily. "They're giving it to me because they feel as if I earned it," Tony's gaze hit the floor. "I saved lives," he said.

"You're as stupid as they come Anthony," His father said without changing his tone. "Gibbs is a marine… Do you really think he couldn't have handled the situation! Are you really that stupid?" he asked with a smirk while blowing smoke into Tony's face. "They giving it because they pity you Anthony… They're hoping it'll inflate your ego and make you heal better so they can throw your sorry ass out along with the rest of the trash," his father stood up. "It's about time you face the truth… You're worthless."

"I just wanted you to be proud of me dad. I wanted your acceptance," Tony said, that was all he ever wanted but even that little gesture was too much to ask for.

"_YOU_ blew that along time ago," his father told him outright, "You can't even do your job right, what do you do? You go and get shot during a critical time… You're one huge disappointment… A disappointment to me, to Gibbs and to the whole NCIS and you're just too stupid to realize that."

Tony stood up; he was right as it all began to make sense now. Surely his mind was too fuzzy to remember everything correctly. The only reason he thought he pushed Gibbs out of the way of the bullet was so he could play hero.

"DiNozzo?" Gibbs looked at Tony.

Tony looked around. There was nobody there, the whole conversation with his father was in his mind but it rung true. "I thought I could accept the award Boss, but I've just been thinking… And I know why they're even bothering to give me this bogus award," he said. It was clearer now.

"Bogus?" Gibbs asked.

"Why else would they give me it?" Tony asked. "But I'll do my duty and take it like a good little soldier."

Gibbs eyed him carefully as he blended in with the crowd and listened to Director Tom Morrow speak. "The next award is the Navy Commendation Medal… And the recipient is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo," Tom said as there was a loud applause from the onlookers. Tony felt a tap on the back as he slowly walked to the front of the conference room. "Care to say a few words?"

Tony accepted the award and carried it. "Yeah, thanks," was all that he said to receive it. He assumed that people were expecting some long, self praising speech from the senior field agent.

Tony immediately walked out of the conference room and dumped the medal into one of the bins in the bullpen. He was soon followed by Gibbs who grabbed his keys. "We leaving in five," he said as he fished the medal out of the bin.

Tony didn't look up. "I'll be going home," he said.

"The hell you will… You look even worse than this morning DiNozzo," Gibbs couldn't help but smile as he put Tony's awarded medal into his bottom draw. It was really funny actually, Tony's bottom draw was full of Gibbs' awards and now Gibbs has got Tony's award in his desk.

"I'm alright," Tony said.

But arguing with Gibbs only delayed the inevitable and he found himself tagging along in silence. Any rebellion with Gibbs was always shortlived.

* * *

A/N: I was thinking… If a Mother Of All Secrets is known as a MOAS according to Abby, would a Mother Of All Nightmares be known as a MOAN? All together now…. moan


	17. Chapter 17

The trip back to Gibbs' place was taken in silence. Tony had thought that his Bogus Award comment had pissed Gibbs off so much. That really wasn't his intention it was just how the words just came out. Tony planned on going straight to bed because his body felt like it needed to and there was only a certain amount of time without sleep before conking out.

"Sit down," Gibbs said as he put an end to his predetermined plans.

Tony obediently did so as he sat at the dining room table. He was going to get the chewing out that he had expected on the way. "I shouldn't have said it, ok?" Tony quickly apologized. Sure he knew how Gibbs thought about apologies but thought it better to go straight on the defensive. "I'm sorry Boss," he said.

"Why do you think those awards are _bogus_?" Gibbs asked in an even tone. Ever since the young man began working under him, Gibbs had tried to break through the protective wall that Tony had been building throughout his adult life. "Those awards are anything but," Gibbs stated.

"Come on Boss," Tony said almost laughing. "If the awards actually meant anything then why are yours sitting in my desk?" He asked.

"I've received many awards throughout my life that I don't feel the need to keep them all." Gibbs answered honestly. "But this is your first," he continued.

Tony thought for a moment. "But I don't deserve it… I'm just a field agent; you would have had the situation well under control. I mean you're Gibbs, you have everything in check," he said.

Gibbs wished that he'd stop being put high upon a pedestal and stop being seen as anything more than human. "I was knocked out and when I came to, the hostages were freed, the Andrews brothers were dead because of you," Gibbs answered after sighing. "You came through… As injured as you were DiNozzo, you came through for everybody. You deserve the commendation award and you're not going to convince me otherwise," Gibbs said and his tone never faltered.

"But Boss," Tony whined a little bit.

"But nothing DiNozzo," Gibbs interrupted. "You're going to have to get use to the fact that you've done something heroic and people have noticed it… They're proud, we all are proud."

Tony couldn't see how anybody thought that it was heroic. "I killed two men, there's nothing heroic about it. I murdered Jackson Andrews," Tony said as if confessing in an interrogation room.

"I doubt that DiNozzo. I may have been unconscious, but I know you… You would have shot him in self defense and only as a last resort," Gibbs said. "You're full of empathy and that would've stopped you from murdering him… Would you rather have had him kill you?" Gibbs asked.

Tony didn't respond to the question. He decided to pretend to ignore it all together. "I'm feeling rather beat," Tony said instead. "I think I'll have a sleep."

Gibbs sunk back in the chair a little. The whole situation was going to hell in a hand basket. It seemed that nothing was getting through his senior field agent and did Tony's silence really say he'd rather be the one that was killed. Gibbs sighed heavily as he wondered why Tony cared more about others than his own safety and health. Of all the time they've spent together, understanding DiNozzo was a formidable task.

* * *

"Hey, Gibbs," Abby spoke loudly into the phone. "Bossman, why don't you turn on the laptop that Timmy brought around?" She said loudly.

"What is it Abbs?" Gibbs said into the phone.

"We have found the location of the safety deposit box," Abby said.

"Are you waiting for an open invitation Abbs?" Gibbs asked in the usual impatient tone.

"Tim and Kate have gone to check it out," Abby replied. "You want me to call you back when they get back?"

"Gee no Abbs, I was going to call you every five minutes," He said sarcastically.

"Okey dokey bossman," Abby said before hanging up.

* * *

_Once again, Tony found himself deep within the labrynth where each twist and turn mirrored the previous, disguising which way was going toward the exit. Tony could hear the fiery snort from Minotaur and could no longer fight the urge to run. The kids were trapped also and Tony showed them the direction to go while praying to God that it was the right way, they disappeared around another turn. Things seemed to be going well until he lost sight of the children. It wasn't long till he heard the screams of pain from all the children as he once again failed to keep anybody safe. Tony ran straight into a dead end but managed to stop himself from running into the rocky wall. Tears began flowing from his eyes as the wall prevented him from protecting them. The cries of help were going unanswered as Tony pounded the hard rock with his bare fists until they bled._

"_Damn it," Tony cried out. "Come on."_

_It was of no use, there was nobody and nothing to beg to. Nothing to bargain with and the feeling of dread and helplessness was overwhelming. "Dad was always right… I am no good at anything… What are you waiting for?! Come on!"_

_The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he felt the presence behind him. Slowly he turned around to face it. The large Minotaur's nostrils flared as smoke billowed. Fear gripped him as his heart beat erratically, even stopping at some points. Adrenaline kicked in with the feeling of being cornered made him stand defiantly. The seven foot plus creature never took its bull's eyes off the intended target._

"_What are you waiting for Dad?" Tony asked. It felt as if an eternity had passed._

_It didn't answer him back but instead lowered the head until they were eye to eye and Tony's vision was impaired by the expelled smoke as the Minotaur snorted again. Once he was able to see again, there was nothing standing in front of him._

'_Don't be afraid of what you can see, be afraid of what you can't,' Tony remembered the words a room mate at university said, it seemed like a favorite quote of his. He'd never understood that sentence's meaning until now. There was nothing in front of him so he dared himself to walk forward. That was when the low growling started, followed by the sound of running and Tony stood on the spot, trying to convince himself he was ready to face it down._

_Before he could react, Tony was knocked into the air and was speared in the stomach by its horns and now was hell bent in ramming him into the dead end, how befitting. In an attempt to stop the ramming, he held his hand out between him and the rocky wall. That wasn't such a good idea and quickly began hitting the bull's head with his fists clenched together as one._

"_Argh!" Tony screamed in pain as his impaled body was held up against the wall. Bits of stone crumbled and fell on him. Pain ravaged his body as the Minotaur shook its head, causing Tony to swing left to right like a rag doll._

_Finally the Minotaur pulled away with blood dripping from both horns and it looked down at its prey, Tony had fallen to the ground in a semi conscious state as he tried to cover the bleeding holes._

"_Oh shit," Tony said through the pain. "Come on! What are you waiting for?!" He screamed out. "Get it over with!"_

_The Minotaur stood over him and looked down…_

Tony fought the grip of someone who had hold of him by unceremoniously flailing his hands. His will to fight had returned with a vengeance but the grip still wouldn't let go. Out of exhaustion, Tony stopped and his head hit the pillow before opening his eyes.

"Boss?" He asked weakly. "Where am I?"

"You want to tell me about it?" Gibbs asked. He'd always managed to protect Kelly from her nightmares and now felt the fatherly need to get Tony through it. "It's alright," Gibbs stroked his hair.

"Talk about it?" Tony looked surprised at Gibbs' action. "I'm not a child Boss," he defended the outburst.

"Not saying you are DiNozzo," Gibbs told him.

"I was trapped in these labrynth and being chased around by a Minotaur. I couldn't fight back," Tony's eyes developed a glassy, unfocused look.

"Tony?" Gibbs looked at him.

"I don't feel right," Tony's eyes fluttered until they remained closed.

"Tony?" Gibbs repeated.

Gibbs pulled the blankets off Tony and rolled them back revealing what he had suspected, during the throes of the nightmare, the wound had been reopened and the blood had stained the sheets.

"Oh, hell DiNozzo," Gibbs muttered quietly.

* * *

_**A/N: **_Preview: Gibbs takes Tony back to Bethesda… Has a bit of Ducky and Gibbs as well as Doctor Hound makes another appearance.

Abby, McGee and Kate go over what is found in the safety deposit box.

And lastly… MOABA? LOL, I'm nowhere near a MOABA.


	18. Chapter 18

Gibbs had sped all the way to Bethesda with Tony lying on the backseat… He'd changed the bandage covering his stomach but Tony hadn't fully regained consciousness. The cell rung and he put it on speaker as he sharply turned the wheel to change lanes. "Gibbs," he said loudly.

"Hey Bossman," Abby said. "We've opened the box and."

"Where are Kate and McGee?" Gibbs asked not allowing her to finish.

"First thing's first. Inside the box," she began to say.

"Abbs!" Gibbs shouted into the phone. "Where are the others?"

"They're in the bullpen looking through the contents of the box… The contents," Abby tried to get the reason why she called through to Gibbs.

"Get Ducky to call me right now and then help McGee and Kate with whatever they need," Gibbs said angrily into the phone.

"But, the contents of the box," Abby said but it was fruitless since the phone had already been hung up. "Get the contents of the box," Abby imitated Gibbs' gruff voice. "Ok Bossman," she went back to her normal voice. "Call me when they get the box Abbs," she turned back to Gibbs' voice before leaving her lab.

Abby had notified Ducky to call Gibbs and immediately went to the bullpen as instructed. McGee and Kate seemed to be busy getting all the data in order that had arisen from the safety deposit box. The contents were basically, Jackson Andrew's evidence gathered that pointed an accusing finger at his wife. There were photocopied medical records and an explanation of what he was planning to do.

"You guys need anything?" Abby asked.

"No," Kate answered.

"No thanks," Mcgee replied.

Their heads looked up when Ducky quickstepped towards the elevator at the same time he straightening his jacket. "Looks serious," Abby said, noticing that he didn't even say goodbye to them. She'd managed to squeeze in between the elevator doors only seconds before they closed. "So what's going on Duck?" She asked, demanding to hear it straight. "Gibbs is pissed at something and you're leaving without saying goodbye."

There was no getting out of it. Abby was almost telepathic to an extent. "Anthony's been taken back to hospital. That was all Jethro said but he made it sound serious and we all know that the poor lad's been having trouble recovering," Ducky answered and waited for her to respond.

"Oh no, that's it I'm coming with," Abby said in a way that was impossible to argue. "Bethesda, here we come."

* * *

_**Bethesda**_

There was one thing that Gibbs hated and that was a 27 year old Doctor ordering him to wait outside while they set up his senior field agent. He saw them through the glass part of the door rush around everywhere to set up.

"Agent Gibbs," Doctor Hound said.

"Doctor Hound," Gibbs replied. "How is he?"

"We're pushing an IV through him and keeping him still," Zoltan said. "He's undernourished, dehydrated and has lost a bit of blood. Considering his age, he should've been on the mend by now but the poor condition he's in, it seems he's having real problems," he continued on. "The fact that he reopened the wound is very disconcerting."

"It's not like he did it deliberately, Doctor," Gibbs responded quickly.

"Call me Zoltan," Zoltan said. Even though he hated the name, he also disliked formality when dealing with people. "I don't believe it was done deliberately,"

Gibbs looked at the youngish Doctor. "It happened while he was sleeping… How bad is it Zoltan?" There was no way he was going to mince his words.

"What I suggest is that you wait here and let us do our jobs and we'll call you when you can see him," he told Gibbs.

"Now look here," Gibbs stared at him.

"You look here," Zoltan snapped. "You took him home against my orders and you take a good look at him then talk to me."

Gibbs huffed. It wasn't often that he allowed someone to get the last word in, but this was extreme circumstances. He heard two people quickly approaching, he turned around to find Abby and Ducky standing there.

"What happened Gibbs?" Abby asked first.

"DiNozzo popped his stitches while sleeping," Gibbs answered.

"Will he be alright?" Abby asked.

"Looks like you he'll be spending some time in here," Gibbs said solemnly. "Why don't you go in their and see what's going on?" He asked, not making it sound like a request.

"I'll see what I can do Jethro," Ducky replied.

Ducky knocked on the door and entered. "What are you doing in here?" Zoltan asked as he made sure the drip was securely in and flowing properly before handing the chart back to the nurse.

"Well I am an M.E." Ducky answered. "I'm very familiar with the patient, Anthony DiNozzo. I am here to offer my services."

Tony watched the nurse write down something down on his notes. "Don't forget its big D, little i, big N and little ozzo," Tony said to her. "You've worked here long? I bet you've got a great bedside manner."

Ducky shook his head. Trust Tony to be cracking onto a nurse. "Anthony," Ducky got his attention away from the nurse.

"Sorry Duck," Tony forced out a smile.

Ducky checked over the chart with just a hint of a frown. Tony was keeping up his spirits as he only knew how. "I'll be back, Anthony," he said.

* * *

Gibbs immediately stood up when Ducky exited the room, closing the door behind him. "How is he Ducky?" Gibbs asked.

"Well he's looking bad and his charts are showing that," Ducky explained. "I believe that Anthony has put his mask back on. In other words, he's hiding his fear and concern behind the mask." Ducky nodded at Abby who was just intent on watching them talk and worrying about Tony. "What happened Jethro?" He asked.

"He was having a nightmare and opened the wound during that," Gibbs answered. "He was going on about a labyrinth and Minotaur."

"Right, the Minotaur is from Greek Mythology," Ducky said. "Minos was ruler of Crete but often was having problems with siblings who wanted Crete ruled their way. Poseidon sent Minos a white bull to be used as a sacrifice to show loyalty, honor. But he kept it for himself and Poseidon was angered and he made Pasiphae, Minos' wife to fall in love with it," Ducky said and he took a breath.

"Eww," Abby said. "Imagine falling in love with a bull."

"Yes," Ducky said as Gibbs sat down but still listened. "Pasiphae and the white bull copulated and there was a child born of the union… It had the body of a man but the head of a bull otherwise known as the Minotaur. It was believed to be treated as an outcast, feared and hated, it soon became ferocious, too ferocious to contain so a giant labyrinth was constructed in Knossos to house the beast and people believed that sacrificing seven youths and seven maidens to the Minotaur made the Gods happy and therefore save them from plagues or famine and even enemies." Ducky continued to explain. "That was until a young man Theseus came along and killed the beast in a battle."

Abby thought for a moment. "Sounds like a nice bedtime story," she commented, playing with one of her pigtails and watching Gibbs' reaction to the whole story.

"Still doesn't really explain why Tony would be dreaming about this Minotaur thing?" Gibbs asked. He couldn't figure out what the connection could possibly be.

"I think its more of how he sees his father… A man with the mind of a monster," Ducky answered with the most plausible explanation.

"Or it could be just a dream demon," Zoltan's voice interrupted which caused everyone to look in his direction. "What I'm saying is, that everyone seems to have a dream monster that invades their nightmares and if left unheeded… Well you see the effects it can have on someone," he pointed to the door leading into Tony's room. He'd been listening to most of the conversation before interrupting. "You can go and see him now but not for too long, he's quite drowsy," Zoltan said. "Can I have a word with you Doctor Mallard?"

"Sure Doctor Hound," Ducky answered as they walked down the hallway as Abby and Gibbs stepped into the hospital room.

"What may I assist you with Doctor Hound?" Ducky asked with some concern.

Zoltan decided to choose his words carefully. "I thought it may be best to talk with you about this especially after what I heard you talk about," Zoltan said. "I believe that Anthony DiNozzo's lack of recovery stems from his emotional state of mind."

"As do I," Ducky said grimly.

"And from what you and Agent Gibbs were talking about before, you know about the Minotaur… Nightmares have a certain duality about them, you keep running from whatever's chasing you and you won't learn a thing," Zoltan explained. "I'm about to suggest something radical."

"Dare I ask what?" Ducky asked.

"I suggest that we actually get Anthony DiNozzo to dream his nightmare through," Zoltan waited for the reaction as he was unsure what the reaction might be.

"You've had experience with this kind of thing?" Ducky asked.

"Well from an early age I got interested in dreams and sleep," Zoltan answered. "Joanne Preston is a colleague of mine and we've performed experiments on ourselves… Not that it would be an experiment on Anthony," Zoltan quickly added. "But what we can do is induce a nightmare by using light stimuli during REM sleep but it will be under a controlled environment. This wouldn't be the first time we've done it… But it'll be the first time on someone else besides Jo and me."

"I see," Ducky replied.

* * *

"Boss," Tony had hardly opened his eyes.

"Hey DiNozzo, how are you feeling?" Gibbs asked as he ruffled Tony's hair.

"Tired," Tony answered simply. He was losing the battle against the sleep since they'd given him something.

"Just get some sleep," Gibbs ordered him.

"I can't believe what happened," Tony said. "Can you stay for awhile?"

Gibbs sat in the chair next to the bed. "I'll stay by your side for however you want DiNozzo," he told him.

"Thanks Boss."

_**

* * *

**_

_**NCIS**_

Kate rubbed her tired eyes as they pondered their next move. The team felt disbanded with it being just the two of them. Something hit her in the back of the head and she looked down to find a piece of scrunched up paper.

"What are you doing McGee?" Kate asked.

"Getting your attention," he answered her.

"Why?"

"I don't know," McGee replied as he dodged the paper ball as it came flying back. "I wonder where everyone else went," he said.

Kate thought for a moment. "If it was important, they would've told us," she replied. "Shall we see Brenda Orson tomorrow? I think its important to let her know what went on," Kate explained herself.

McGee threw the paper ball back at Kate. "Thing's are beginning to feel weird," he said.

Kate put the paper into the bin. "Yeah, its actually called being professional. That's probably why it feels so odd," she replied. "But you're right, it is different."

"You think Tony's going to be alright?" McGee asked.

Kate stifled a laugh. "He's Tony, McGee. He'd be alright just so he could continue to tease us," she replied. Kate would never openly admit it, but she too was worried about Tony… It was just too quiet and odd without him.

* * *

A/N: This is kind of a set up chapter. I just love the Minotaur myth.

Preview: Zoltan discusses his idea with Gibbs

Kate and McGee visit Linda's mother.


	19. Chapter 19

Hell From 12

Kate picked up the phone as soon as it rung, "Agent Todd," she answered it.

_Kate, Abby here… Gibbs asked me to let you know that Tony's been taken to Bethesda. He's being looked after by the doctor but looks in a pretty bad way._

"Does Gibbs want us down there?" Kate asked. McGee saw the sudden change in her facial expression and walked over.

_Things are pretty under control here, but had to fill you in, can you pass the message along… Oh and Gibbs said to do what you gotta do._

"What happened?"

_His wound opened up, and he lost some blood._

"Keep us posted Abby," Kate said.

"What happened?" McGee asked.

Kate relayed the short amount of information that was given to McGee who's expression now matched hers. "Did they say he's going to be alright?" he asked.

"She didn't say too much, I guess she wanted to get back to Tony," Kate answered. "But of course he's going to be alright or else Gibbs will kill him."

McGee smiled slightly, that would be true. Their boss knew how to keep things in check and once that faltered to happen, then they can start worrying. While their boss wasn't panicking that meant things couldn't be as bleak as they seemed.

"You're right Kate," McGee said.

Kate read through the long letter in that was contained in the safety deposit box. It seemed to explain a lot of things.

_To whomever is reading this…_

_This is in no way an apology for what I am about to do, the only course of action I am able to take is to show tell people that Linda was in fact the abuser. My brother kept me informed of all the injuries sustained while I was deployed. That's when I decided to get my brother to kill her to end the torment. But I never thought that the removal of Linda would also mean the removal of my daughter. I don't think Brenda's a bad woman, but I'm positive she knew about the abuse that her daughter had inflicted. All I want is my daughter back in my arms, but I have to resign myself to the fact that it'd be a cold day in hell before that happens. More than most of the time, custody hearings go in favor of the females. So I have decided in a last ditch effort to show everybody how much I love my daughter. Of course without being able to see her, I have to take drastic action. Since I don't think this is going to end well, I'm leaving this letter as a confession to murder and also make sure everyone at least attempts to understand my actions._

_Signed with a shattered heart_

_Jackson Andrews._

"Do you believe it?" McGee asked her.

"I'm not sure," Kate answered while in thought. "I think we should go pay a small visit to Brenda Orson at least. Maybe she does know something."

McGee nodded. "Shall we call Gibbs and give him in update?" he asked. Since Tony and Gibbs or even Ducky wasn't in, he'd assumed that Kate was the one who would be taking charge.

"I think he's quite bust and I'm sure he'd just tell us to go ahead and do it," Kate answered.

* * *

_**Bethesda**_

Gibbs' eyes burned a whole in Zoltan. He couldn't believe what his ears had just heard but Gibbs had heard it all too clearly and the idea was definitely way beyond ludicrous. Ducky strongly recommended that Zoltan would be better off getting some specialized backup before Gibbs decided to rip him apart and Gibbs had gone back in the room.

"You have to understand that Jethro and Anthony are very close," Ducky told Zoltan.

He'd finally got his breathing regulated, matching moods with the people who he was talking with wasn't always the best thing to do and adjusted his outfit. "I can see that," he replied.

"That is why you have to tread carefully," Ducky warned him. "What made you get interested in the study of dreams?" He asked.

"Well when I was just a kid, I use to suffer from a recurring nightmare… I think it was brought on by a monster movie or something," Zoltan answered. "I kept dreaming that a huge Grizzly Bear was after me and my hometown… Being the young kid I was, I use to run to my parents for comfort and protection. I guess they got sick of it," Zoltan explained. "Because one time I was told the nightmare was over and it wouldn't come back now… Well, they were wrong, the nightmare continued on exactly where it had left off," Zoltan said.

"How did it end?" Ducky asked.

"I got hold of a bazooka and blew the bloody bear's head off," Zoltan said seriously. "I never dreamt about it after that and that experience got me interested in dreaming. I'm trying to say that Agent Gibbs isn't helping the situation any by shielding the young man."

"Dear God, don't tell him that," Ducky said. "Go get some backup and come back here. I'll talk with Jethro," he grimaced at the thought.

"Thank you Doctor Mallard," Zoltan said.

"Oh and one other thing," Ducky said before entering the room. "You must know more about Anthony… He was emotionally and physically abused to great lengths as a child and the last couple of cases he's worked on have involved abused children," Ducky told him.

Zoltan let out a quiet snarl as he shook his head. That was something that they should've told him sooner. It was beginning to fall into place now.

"I know what you're going to say Ducky," Gibbs said without turning around. "Do you really think it's a good idea though?" He asked.

"That I don't know," Ducky answered truthfully. "But Doctor Hound does know what he's talking about, I think the idea sounds a bit odd, but it does make sense. He's getting a psychiatrist now to go through this with you."

"What do you think Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"Take a good look at Anthony," Ducky said as he watched the uneven rise and fall of the chest. "Maybe this is the best option. It's eating him up," he looked around. "Whereabouts did Abigail wonder off to?"

"Oh I sent her back to NCIS to check on the others then gave her strict orders to go home," Gibbs answered.

"Perhaps we should do the same," Ducky replied. "There's not anything we can do at the moment."

* * *

_**NCIS:**_

People were already at work and the cubicles were filling up. Abby entered the bullpen and found that McGee was slumped over his desk with his head buried into his arms and Kate was sprawled out in front of her desk fast asleep.

"Hey, wake up sleepyheads," Abby said loudly.

McGee was the first one to wake up. "Hey Abbs," he asked wiping his eyes. "What's the news?"

"Yeah Abby," Kate climbed to her feet and cricked her back.

"I have breakfast," she replied handing them a package each. "I know pies aren't very substantial. But it was best I could do on the way here," Abby said.

"Pie's fine Abbs," Kate responded. "But what's the news on Tony?" She asked.

"Bossman and Ducky's with him, but he don't look so hot right now," Abby said. "But he has this cute doctor treating him and an equally cute nurse looking after him," she said. "I'm going to get home and I'm sure boss wants you to do the same."

"We've got to see someone first," McGee said as they went to get cleaned up first.

* * *

_**Brenda Orson's residence**_

McGee and Kate were invited in the home and offered a cup of coffee which they readily accepted in order to get their caffeine fix and look a little more alert. They finished the coffee before engaging in the interview and relaying what they had found.

"Miss Orson," Kate sounded official. "We have come across some evidence that your daughter, Linda Andrews was the one who abused Nicole," she said.

"A letter in a safety deposit box explained a lot of things," McGee answered. "Jackson had gotten Michael to murder Linda in order to protect Nicole from the abuse," he explained.

"I was hoping against all hope that it wasn't true," Brenda said through some tears. "I knew she'd always been a bit physical but there was nothing excessive. I convinced myself that she wouldn't go overboard,"

McGee and Kate consoled Brenda for awhile before leaving her to pick up the pieces of the shattered image she had held. They were also glad to be able to close the case and deal with what had now bumped up the priority list, Tony DiNozzo.

* * *

_**Bethesda**_

If it hadn't been for Ducky's assurances, Gibbs probably would have never approached Tony with this ridiculous sounding idea. The kid's physique had gotten worse even with him trying to look after him but these problems stemmed deeper. The next step was going to tell Tony what they had planned for him.

"No," Tony protested quickly. "I can't do it… I can't go back there,"

"I know how you feel Anthony DiNozzo," Zoltan told him. "I've been there myself. This is the best way,"

"Doctor Hound," Gibbs said. "Just let me talk to him," Zoltan reluctantly did so. The psychiatrist had explained things to Gibbs and he had accepted that this idea would be the best way to go. "Listen DiNozzo," Gibbs said and when he had dragged Tony out of the bed, Ducky had stopped Zoltan from rushing back into the room. "Take a look at yourself DiNozzo and tell me that you see a healthy person staring back at you," Gibbs ordered.

Tony looked at the broken, sick looking man staring back at him. Dark rings were beneath his eyes and he was practically skin and bone. "I look like shit Boss," Tony said.

"Yeah and this doctor wants to help you," Gibbs said as he put Tony back into the bed.

"But I don't know," Tony said. "You don't know what it's like."

"Do you trust me?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah Boss… I do," Tony answered.

"This, is the best thing for you to do. It may sound stupid, but it'll help you out," Gibbs looked deep into his eyes. "Trust me on this," he said.

Tony looked towards the door to make sure nobody was standing there. "I'm scared," it was just a whisper.

"I'll be here with you," Gibbs assured.

Tony still didn't look too convinced but trusted Gibbs enough. "Alright," he said softly.

"That's great son," Gibbs said.

"They're great as Father and Son," Zoltan commented to Ducky as they looked through the door at Gibbs patting Tony on the shoulder. It was a vast contrast to earlier in the piece.

"They're not Father and Son, Doctor Hound," Ducky replied.

"They're more like Father and Son than any I've met," Zoltan observed.

"I bet both of them wished they were though," Ducky said. "They adore each other immensely."

* * *

_**Bethesda Sleep Study Clinic**_

"So, you said you've been through this before," Tony said as Zoltan began attaching the EeG and EKG. Tony looked closely at what he was doing as the suction cups were being fastened to his now bare chest where the nurse had shaved him and put up with the remarks that followed. The strapped hat on his head was feeling uncomfortable. Tony looked down at the Suction cups attached to his legs and arms as well as the BP monitor. It reminded him of Air Force One with Harrison Ford when his character was trying to figure out which wires to tie together.

"How about afterwards I tell you about my nightmare and you tell me about yours huh?" Zoltan replied. "Its quite a story really."

Tony turned his attention to Gibbs. "I feel like Heather Langenkamp in a Nightmare On Elm Street," Tony said. "She had her sleep monitored in the first movie."

"Oh man," Zoltan said. "I remember those movies, my parents got me to watch them a lot… Nowadays I can't even make them sit through one," he smiled.

Tony smiled. "You remember her pulling out the hat?" He asked. "I always wondered where she pulled it out from. You think you can get me her number?" He asked him.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs said loudly.

"Maybe she can join me," Tony grinned. "Can you pull people out of dreams before they die Doc?" The smile had faded.

"There's been no evidence that dying in dreams kills you in real life after all how could there be?" Zoltan answered. "But some people have reported that dying in dreams is like a whole new awakening," he said.

"Have you ever been injured in a dream?" Tony asked.

"Not physically," Zoltan answered. "But in dreams, I've been shot, stabbed, poisoned and even had my finger taken off. But I'm still in one piece."

They had finished setting up the machines and were reading normally even though his breathing and pulse rate had already slightly increased.

"So what now, Doc?" Tony asked.

"Now we'll send you to sleep and the rest is up to your body," Zoltan said. "Each time you enter REM sleep stage, we'll actually put this screen close to you which will emit flashes of red at twenty hertz which will definitely induce the nightmare," he explained. "At the moment I have a friend who is working on a pair of goggles to do it. But that could take some time."

"How about I wait for the cool looking goggles?" Tony asked. Zoltan rolled his eyes at this and turned the machines down to a quite level.

"Why turn the machines down?" Gibbs asked.

"So that the beeping sound doesn't interfere with the dream at all," Zoltan answered. "You don't suffer from epilepsy do you Agent Gibbs?"

"No," Gibbs answered.

"Good,"

Zoltan used the needle to inject the stuff to help him sleep through the IV. Tony watched it go in and bit his lip. "You think the nurse can tell me a bedtime story?" Tony asked.

"Sweet dreams," Zoltan said and immediately regretted it when they both glared at him. They were father and son alright. "See you later," he corrected.

Zoltan joined Ducky in the small observation room and watched the two talk for a little while before Tony began drifting off. "What you said was true wasn't it?" Ducky asked as he looked on. "What you said in there," he added.

"Every word of it… But is he always so chauvinistic?" Zoltan asked.

Ducky laughed a little. "The boy's scared and in an unfamiliar environment, he's dealing with it the only way he knows how," he answered. "With his frat-boy façade. And might I suggest that if you want to get on the good side of Jethro Gibbs is to watch what you say to Anthony," he told the doctor.

Zoltan looked on closely as he began looking over at the charts produced by the EKG before checking his watch and wondered with a case like this that had come up… Was it the right decision to leave Bethesda? Gibbs sat back in his chair and never took his eyes off Tony. Zoltan thought that maybe he could stay, his replacement could always find somewhere else or still work at another hospital.

He doubted that Doctor Brad Pitt would mind going somewhere else.

* * *

**_A/N: Ok, the Nightmare returns to Tony. And there's some fallout. I hope these chapters are alright, I had to put in the last line LOL since that's who is replacing Zoltan. Sorry, I just had to put in one Nightmare On Elm Street reference. 100 points if you can guess which monster movie, Zoltan mentioned. I'd be surprised is someone gets it. Anyway sorry for the longer chapter... Well, not really._**


	20. Chapter 20

_**Hell From 12**_

Abby, McGee and Kate waited at the hospital for news. Their anxiety grew when they couldn't find Gibbs, Tony or even Ducky anywhere. It seemed that nobody was willing to tell them where they were and it didn't matter how much they pleaded. Not even Abby's ramblings got the job done. They sat in the waiting room, after they decided to wait until someone saw to their needs.

"Are you ok Kate?" Abby asked, breaking the silence between the three.

Kate shook her head slowly. "I already miss working with him," she said and then suddenly acted like she didn't mean to say it.

"Tony told me he hit you… He was really sorry about it," Abby said, this made McGee look at them.

"No, no he didn't hit me, he pushed me down," Kate said. "He was sleeping and I tried to wake him up because he was having a bad dream… Gibbs warned me not to do it, but I didn't listen," she continued and wiped her eyes. Why was she acting this way? Tony had always gotten on her nerves but also guessed that she cared for him deep down. "Guess he tells you everything huh? Guess you knew I slapped him and that's why you haven't been keeping me up to date on what's been happening," Kate said.

"What? No, no he didn't tell me that," Abby said. "I've just been so worried with all this running through my head that I didn't even think about you guys," she assured them. "Come on, this is Tony we're talking about… He'll be fine."

"Yeah he's Super Sgent," McGee smiled.

"That's right!" Abby exclaimed. "And nobody's sent him Kryptonite have they?"

* * *

_**BETHESDA SLEEP CLINIC**_

_Tony was trapped within the familiar labyrinth maze. The rocky walls yielded no clue as to how to get out since each passageway looked like the last. The pounding of heavy feet began chasing him and his only thought was to run… To get away from the bastard who's been causing him misery, the faster he ran, the faster it ran. There were no kids left, he'd let the beast hurt them all. Tony was knocked face first into a wall from behind and he could feel the hot breath from the Minotaur down his neck before he was unceremoniously turned around and held into place as the beast snarled at him._

Gibbs kept one eye on Tony and the other eye on the machines. Zoltan and his 'assistant' Joanne quietly discussed the monitoring in the flickering room and the Doctor nodded as he adjusted something with the monitor and the flickering slowed down. This action seemed to bring down the heart rate and pulse a little.

_Tony thought that his imagination must have been getting the best of him because the Minotaur backed off a bit before trying to spear Tony into the wall with the horns, but fortunately he ducked of the way and again he made a run for it. This time he tripped over someone's body._

"_No!" He screamed as he managed to dodge out of the way of the double axe as sparks flew off once it connected with the stone ground. He couldn't pick himself up without the fear of getting something chopped off._

_The Minotaur's foot came down onto his chest and pinned him down as he raised the double axe high above its head._

Whatever they'd done before was short lived. The monitors started going haywire. Gibbs stood up when Zoltan entered the room again. "What's going on?" Gibbs asked.

"I can tell you exactly what's happening," Zoltan said as he studied the monitor. He knew what was going on, since he'd seen it so many times, but it'd take so long to explain it. The pulse was almost reaching that dangerous mark where they'd have to pull him out of it. "Try talking to him, you're close right?"

"Talk to him?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah, it's a proven fact that people can still hear while they're dreaming," Zoltan answered. "See if you can get him to fight back,"

That idea sounded ridiculous to him, but it was worth the shot. "DiNozzo," Gibbs whispered into his ear. "You need to fight it," Gibbs reached down and held Tony's hand as he whispered words into the ear.

"_Fight," the voice seemed to echo everywhere. It was so close yet too far. As the double axe threatened to split his head open, something dragged him to safety with a hand. The fear had still gripped him. The Minotaur was unbeatable, his heart began to beat faster and he could hardly breathe again causing his body to shake._

"_I can't fight back," Tony said with sadness and fear, his voice was barely audible even to himself. The Minotaur was just too big, too overbearing. It was coming at him with the double axe while he had empty hands, nothing to fight with, helpless, hopeless and worthless. It was impossible._

"_Come on DiNozzo," he could make out Gibbs' voice now. The man who never beat him down or put him down, always stood by him and now, he stood close to Tony._

"_I can't!" Tony shouted. "I can't do it alone or without anything."_

_Gibbs, his mentor and his hero handed him a sword and stood by Tony's side. They stood side by side. "I told you I'll never let you go," he said._

_Tony couldn't say anything, not that they had anytime to say anything. Tony and Gibbs approached the running Minotaur…_

_What he thought was going to be a ferocious battle that was going to end his life was in fact working in the opposite direction. The charge by Tony seemed to startle the beast and was easily knocked on its back. He raised the sword down and began striking the Minotaur as if he was chopping wood._

"_Son-of-a-bitch!" Tony screamed. "How could you do that to me?! I was your own flesh and blood dad!" He continued chopping at it. "I was your one and only son, but did you ever show me that? Did you ever tell me that? No! Come on, hit me now! Come on you son of a bitch, get up!" Tony drove the sword into the Minotaur's chest like he was driving Excalibur into stone. "Hit me now. Say I'm nothing now!" Tony kicked its head for good measure._

_Tony saw a door at the other end, he was about to open it when the kids came out of nowhere and followed him. A triumphant smile appeared on his face as he opened the door. When it opened, a bright light swallowed him whole…_

Gibbs looked at Zoltan shine a light in Tony's eyes. The monitors had calmed down considerably and were almost back to normal. "Whatever you did, it seemed to work," Zoltan studied the monitors intently. "He's out of the nightmare but not out of REM sleep yet," he explained.

"How do we know it's successful?" Gibbs never took his eyes off Tony, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

"Can't really tell anything until he's awake," Zoltan answered. "Then it'll be a matter of sharing the nightmare, talking about it with someone."

Gibbs nodded and sat back in the chair. "How'd you think it went?" Ducky asked him as he reentered the observation room.

"I'd like to reserve my judgment Doctor Mallard," Zoltan answered. "But judging by the machines it seems like the nightmare was successful," he added optimistically.

Gibbs watched the rhythmic breathing of Tony. There were so many instances where he couldn't protect the kid from and those are the times that really struck the chord. His senior field agent seemed to have the knack for getting into strife and nothing seemed to change that. Gibbs was fearful of losing the only son he ever had.

* * *

Ducky saw that the monitoring part was over and he failed miserably at trying to hold back a yawn. There was no use in convincing Gibbs to go home and get some rest so the least he could do was reassure that Tony was in the best of hands and assured Gibbs that he'd be back later in the day.

On the way out of the hospital, Ducky had to pass through the waiting room and wasn't at all surprised to see the other members of the team waiting and fighting hard to not fall asleep.

"How is he Ducky?" Abby jumped to her feet, "Tell me," she was in such a state, her face etched with concern for her fallen brother. "Is he going to be ok?" she asked as she played with her fingers. "Can we go see him?" she stopped with the questions to finally let Ducky answer them. The others waited for Ducky to respond since all their questions were asked.

"Caitlin, Abigail and Timothy… Anthony is sleeping right now, and we're not sure if he'll be up for any visitors today," Ducky said without giving them too much optimism. "The best you all can do is to go home and you'll all be contacted when he's ready," he told them. Reluctantly, they agreed and Ducky decided to go back home to check his mother and hopefully a few hours of sleep, went back home as well after leading the others to the correct area where they could look in and see Tony resting peacefully in the room. That quieted Abby down considerably as she could see that for the immediate time he was ok.

* * *

Gibbs felt like he'd been waiting for hours until for his agent to wake. Tony sat up in bed with wide eyes and was visibly shaken. Gibbs sat on the bed. When Tony realized that someone was sitting on the bed next to him he knew right away it was Gibbs. He reached out to the arm, like a child for the comfort he needed. Then Tony allowed himself to bury his body in safety while he clung on for dear life.

Zoltan walked into the room. His eyes locking on to the sight of his patient buried into Gibbs' chest, holding on tightly. The doctor observed how Tony clung like a child to Gibbs. It was obvious that Tony saw Gibbs as a father figure and needed that stable feeling he had never gotten from his own and noticed that his patient had buried himself deep into Gibbs' arm. "You ok Anthony?" Zoltan asked.

Tony nodded but still refused to move anywhere.

"Can get in another doctor if you want to talk about it now," Zoltan asked.

Tony vigorously started shaking his head no, he couldn't face anything but the protection that Gibbs engulfed him in. Tony felt that as soon as he was released, everyone would laugh at him and begin telling him how ridiculously stupid the whole thing was.

Gibbs didn't force him to stay but was willing to let him stay there as long as he needed. He knew how much Tony needed him right now but the years of infernal programming taught him not to vocalize it. Gibbs though that as long as he was there, Tony wouldn't have to unless he wanted to.

"Will you tell me when you are?" He asked.

There was a long pause before Tony nodded yes slowly.

Zoltan nodded in response as he began removing the suction cups as well as the leads to the EKG. He knew the emotional exhaustion that followed dreaming a nightmare through and the Tony needed time. Even though it must have been uncomfortable there was still no movement from the younger man and the silence was somewhat troubling. Zoltan gritted his teeth, perhaps this hadn't gone as well as he'd hoped. But he didn't dare bring himself to voice that in front of the patient's 'father'.

* * *

**_A/N: Congrats to flowerfairy30 who got the ever so obscure reference to Grizzly.  
Key Shinigami: Now I'll have to look for On The Edge._**

**_Special thanks to crockettsgirl who helped me out with this chapter to minimise the errors...  
(braces for a headslap)_**


	21. Chapter 21

_**Hell From 12 pt 21**_

Abby, Kate and McGee waited outside the regular room that Tony had been moved back into. Gibbs had notified Ducky and he in turn notified the team of the room change along with the times they were allowed to visit.

"Where's Gibbs?" Abby asked.

"Jethro's getting some much needed sleep," Ducky answered. Somehow the doc had managed to convince Gibbs to catch up on sleep and Ducky wasn't about to question how the young Doc did that. "Only one at a time, but Anthony's still in fragile state of mind, so make sure you keep things light," Ducky explained. He didn't want Tony worrying about the others as he was apt to do.

It wasn't any surprise that Abby went into the room before anyone else. Tony was awake and watched her enter. "Hi Abbs," Tony sat up a little as she took the chair beside his bed.

"How are you doing Tony?" Abby asked.

Tony waved his hand in the so-so motion. "Doing ok I guess," Tony answered. Physically he felt better but he assumed that was because of the IV drip force feeding him. He hated coming across this _vulnerable _in front of anybody. He was embarrassed, ashamed, even though these were his friends.

"You're looking better," Abby told him while she caressed her hand over the top of his head, something she knew Tony liked. "Has the nurse been looking after you good?" She asked.

"She's doing a bang up job," Tony replied.

"Got her number yet?" Abby snickered a bit at the joke the two shared.

"No," Tony answered as he thought about the best way to try and get that. Abby moved her hand from his hair and punched him lightly in the arm, just enough for him to feel it, "Hey," he said angrily, his face matching the feeling, along with a little shock.

"That's for having us worried," Abby said.

"I'm sor," Tony began, cut off by yet another light punch. "Hey," Tony said as he responded in kind. The childish exchange continued until Ducky walked in. They both looked up at him like children caught with their hands in the cookie jar… Guilty!

"Hey Ducky," Tony said, his mood quickly changed to being serious. "Have you heard when Gibbs is coming back?"

Ducky duly noted the concern in Tony's voice. "Oh, Jethro's gone home to catch some rest Anthony." Ducky answered, "I don't know how Doctor Hound managed to convince him," he added.

"Hi Tim," Tony greeted.

McGee walked in shyly, not sure what he'd find. He thought he wouldn't mind being called by his actual name from Tony, but somehow, he missed the knick name, _Probie_. He shook his head, in his mind it wasn't Probie he missed it was the old cheerful and carefree Tony.

"You've got some color back," McGee observed. "You're looking a little better."

"Thanks," Tony replied. Truth be told, he physically felt better but more lost than ever. The only person who Tony felt he could be himself with, was Abby. It seemed that she never judged him.

* * *

Kate waited outside, she had planned on going in to see Tony but, she stopped herself at the last minute. Ever since she'd started working with him, he'd hardly ever been sick except for the odd occasion but nothing of this magnitude. Of course she wanted to go in and see him. Only the guilt of her actions made her freeze. She leaned against the wall and thought about the way she'd acted lately, hell, not just lately but ever since she met him. He was a damn good agent, but her narrow mindedness had refused to let her see it. Kate pushed herself off the wall, turned around and walked out of the hospital. She needed to distance herself from Tony, now almost welcoming the guilt.

"Caitlin," Ducky stopped her from going further. "Aren't you going to visit Anthony?" He asked.

"I can't do it Ducky… Seeing him like this is awful, and the way I behaved toward him when he was like this," Kate replied. "I was just riling him, we rile each other. I took it too far," she said in a quiet tone.

"I doubt that very much Caitlin," Ducky responded kindly. "I think that you should go and see young Anthony, he really needs his friends around him at the moment."

"Did he ask for me?" Kate asked hopefully.

"No, but he's been busy talking with Abigail and Timothy," Ducky answered. "I'm sure he'd be delighted to see you as well,"

That was one thing Kate couldn't be sure of. Did he really want to see her, or again, was it her that didn't want to see him due to her guilt? She needed time to think so she could sort out those feelings, "I think I'll come back another time," she replied before leaving the hospital for good this time.

Ducky was deep in thought as he watched her leave, He'd never seen a couple that were as pigheaded as Kate and Tony. Something could definitely be there, if they'd just acknowledge it.

* * *

It seemed that one minute Tony was chatting with McGee and Abby and then the next time he'd opened his eyes, Zoltan was there with the nurse checking his vitals. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," he told him.

"Where is everyone?" Tony asked, surprised. "I swear I only closed my eyes for a second,"

"They left when you fell asleep," Zoltan answered. "So how did you sleep?"

"Actually very well, I guess," Tony answered. It was the most peaceful sleep he had had in a long time and for that he was grateful.

"That's good," The doctor replied. "How are you feeling?" He asked. He was curious about how his patient was after the dream had been monitored and was allowed to finish.

"I feel alright," Tony was somewhat guarded with his answer.

"Are you going to discuss your dream with me?" Tony curiously asked Zoltan, and hoped this would avoid the discussion of his own.

"Only if you go first," Zoltan answered. "I really do like talking about mine," he said.

There was a long pause as Tony closed his eyes, perhaps if that happened he might fall asleep again, but apparently the sleep credits were all used up. He wasn't sleepy enough now, so that plan flew out the window.

"You don't have to talk if you don't want to," Zoltan explained, knowing he shouldn't push the issue.

Tony opened his eyes. "I was stuck in the catacombs, you know, one of those ones that are all rock," he said. "I was trying to get the children out but the damn Minotaur stopped us and went after the children before coming after me. That got me trapped and I couldn't do anything," even remembering the dream caused his heart rate to increase, he could feel it beat harder and the cold fear flow through his veins, "It was going to chop me up with the axe. Though I was very fortunate that Gibbs appeared in my dream and saved me, he helped me fight it. I killed my father – I mean the Minotaur… Well not just killed it… More like massacred the damn beast. I really let it rip when I did that."

"So the Minotaur represented your Father," Zoltan stated softly. He realized that his patient must have had a terrible childhood. That would explain why his father had taken on the form of such a beast in his nightmares and to actually have such a debilitating effect on someone.

"Yeah," Tony replied, making it sound like that was all Zoltan was going to get from him. "What about your nightmare thing?" Tony asked.

Zoltan took what he could get, he was no substitute for a therapist and he wasn't trying to be. "Well I watched this bear movie called Grizzly, I only caught about half hour at the most I think, this part that really stood out was when it attacked this camper and chopped the hand so it went flying through the air," Zoltan answered after thinking back to the movie. "I dreamt I was in my hometown when the Grizzly attacked it, killed a couple of my friends and I knew I couldn't face it so we all got onto a bus and were evacuated," He had no trouble recalling the dream even after all these years. "That was when I woke up and ran to mommy but when I got back to sleep the dream continued as we all had to get off the bus. As we did so, the ground began to shake and the road opened up. Don't ask me how or why, but it was the Grizzly. Then we ended up in a chase into a park area. It was coming after me and I'd seen it kill before. I reached into the helicopter and pulled out a bazooka. I aimed and blew the damn Grizzly's head off and that finished the dream."

"A grizzly sounds scarier than a Minotaur," Tony added after listening to it all.

"Not necessarily," Zoltan said. "I knew a guy, that didn't fear anything at all, a man who'd try anything once, but put a spider in front of him and he'd totally freak."

Tony laughed at this. He couldn't quite get how people could get so scared of anything that could be squished at the bottom of the shoe.

"Yeah it is pretty funny, we give him hell for it," Zoltan said, somewhat amused. "Anyway, I think I must've somehow seen the end of the movie or heard about it, because they killed the bear in Grizzly with a bazooka near a chopper. Ever since that dream I've been so interested in the world of dreams and sleep."

They just took part in idle chit chat before Gibbs came in. "How's he doing Doctor?" Gibbs asked him.

"He's doing a lot better," Zoltan said, "I want to take the drip out tonight and have him eat tomorrow. If all goes well, he'll be discharged the day after," he said hoping not to get any arguments either way from Gibbs.

"You're the doctor, Doctor," Gibbs replied. This earned him a couple of strange looks from Tony and Zoltan. "If you think I'm going to go against the Doctor's orders after the last time, you're mistaken."

Zoltan was thankful of this; he didn't want to be fighting anybody when it came to someone's health. A calm Gibbs was made things easier for all involved.

"I'm going to be moving your stuff into my house," Gibbs told Tony. The gesture didn't go unnoticed by the younger man. Tony looked relieved by this. He tried but couldn't fully hide his feelings like he usually did. His eyes were glassy and they could see he was about to cry at the offer.

"I'll leave you two alone," Zoltan said as he didn't want to be an intruder on this moment and wouldn't want his patient feeling worse if he needed to let some emotion out.

"Thanks Doctor Hound," Gibbs said and turned his attention back to Tony.

"You don't have to do this," Tony tried attempted to mask his feeling, but he knew Gibbs could see right through him.

"I know I don't," Gibbs replied, "I want to help you get through this," he added.

Tony sniffed a bit as he still struggled to maintain his composure. He felt as if it didn't matter how much of a screw up he'd been, Gibbs was always there. Gibbs had taken the time to teach him things when nobody else would.

"Why?" Tony asked as he sat up and tried so hard not to break down. But he felt the difficulty swallowing the watery lump in his throat.

"I see you as my son," Gibbs answered without flinching. "You need a father around you right now Tony and I'll be honored if you let it be me," he continued. Gibbs wasn't sure what kind of reaction he would get by his admission.

Tony had fought hard but finally broke down and Gibbs couldn't move fast enough to be by Tony's side to offer all the comfort he could.

Tony tried to compose himself right away only the protective warmth of Gibbs allowed Tony to feel that it was alright to be human, something he wasn't allowed to be growing up and built the wall further in his year. For the first time in a very long time his emotions broke through that wall.

Gibbs stroked his hair before placing a hand on his shaking shoulder. "You take as long as you need to, we'll get you through this," Gibbs gave a comforting squeeze on Tony's shoulder.

* * *

**_a/n: Next chapter, Tony moves into Gibbs' indefinately and learns a valuable lesson about being looked after by Gibbs._**


	22. Chapter 22

HELL FROM 12 chapter 22

Tony had given a warm farewell before being discharged. He was looking forward to leaving and not coming back to Bethesda anytime soon. He also wished Doctor Hound good luck when they said their good-byes. Tony soon found himself in a place that was even stricter than any hospital, and that was, Gibbs house.

Tony was shocked to find that even his DVD collection had made the move, along with his large television and a few other things that he enjoyed form his apartment.

"You brought everything over?" Tony asked with a dumbfounded look. He was sure that Gibbs would deliberately forget his DVD collection.

"McGee, Abby and Kate helped with the move," Gibbs told him. "Ducky organized your rent at your apartment," he said. Tony froze at the spot near the kitchen. "The apartments rent? Ducky took care of that? For how long?" He asked shocked. He couldn't believe that anyone would take the time out to help him out this way. The guilt washed over his face, he covered it as quickly as possible. He felt like he'd intruded on everyone else. "They shouldn't have Boss, I mean it was nice of them. But my apartment, I can't afford to pay Ducky back. He shouldn't have done it, I'll be in debt for him forever," Tony frantically tried to change what couldn't be changed.

"Quit it, DiNozzo," Gibbs said. "Did you ask Ducky to settle your rent?" Gibbs asked Tony.

"No," Tony answered. "I didn't, but still, I have to pay him back," He worried at the thought. Ducky was going to be left out of pocket because of him.

"DiNozzo, stop worrying about paying Ducky back, he can afford it." Gibbs wanted to make sure that Tony would stop fretting over it. "Why don't you take a shower while I make you some dinner?" Gibbs strongly suggested. "Your clothes are on the bed," he said.

"I had something not too long ago," Tony protested. It was tough trying to get use to having more than three meals a day.

"Are you going to say no to me?" Gibbs asked in amusement. He knew his senior field agent wouldn't go against him.

"No Boss," Tony said and looked stunned at his own words. "I mean, not saying no, but… Going to shower now, Boss," he said before leaving the immediate area. He was no longer under the protection of the doctors. The thought of his boss now having a say in whatever he did in order to help him get better was unsettling. He knew his boss would never hurt him. Gibbs was only looking for his well being. So now, Gibbs was free to do anything he wanted to do. Tony felt it difficult to breathe, "Oh God," he mumbled in worry. Gibbs had been all nice and caring, but now he was staying with Gibbs, in Gibbs' house, there was going to be hell to pay. Tony stepped in the shower to try and rid the thoughts of negativity.

"Hey Boss," Tony sat down on the chair in front of the chicken curry. The spices could easily be smelled. "Looks good," Tony said as he sat down and began shoveling down the food. It tasted better than it looked as with all curries.

"You ok, DiNozzo?" Gibbs studied his agent's features for a moment. "Will you be alright tomorrow while I go into work for a couple of hours?" He asked. "I've got some paperwork to look over from the case," Gibbs finished.

"I forgot to ask," Tony said as he began playing with the food. "How _did _the case go?"

Gibbs thought for a moment before answering. He chose to withhold some of the case's more sensitive details. "The key that you found led to a safety deposit box," Gibbs told him. "The box contained a letter explaining everything. You did really good remembering that DiNozzo."

"I'm just sorry I didn't remember it sooner," Tony ate some more.

"Well, the important thing is that it's solved and taken care of now," Gibbs answered.

Tony managed to just get through all his meal while talking with Gibbs about nothing in particular. He decided to call it an early night to avoid anything else. Gibbs allowed him to turn in early without any arguments.

* * *

_**NCIS HQ: The following day**_

Gibbs typed at the computer and sipped the coffee hoping that it'd make him type faster. He didn't like the idea of leaving Tony home alone while he was in such a fragile state of mind.

"How's Tony doing Gibbs?" Kate asked, still working through her guilt.

"You should come around and visit him," Gibbs said. "I think he's getting sick of my company." Of course that wasn't the truth, but Tony needed all his friends around him.

Kate's facial expression changed. "I'm busy tonight," she lied.

Gibbs sighed. There was no way anyone could directly lie to Gibbs and get away with it, especially not someone as open as Kate. "I know you haven't seen him since he was admitted," Gibbs said honestly, before he took the direct approach. "You're avoiding him."

"I am not," Kate answered. She knew that this conversation had been coming, she'd dreaded it, still did.

"Why are so pissed at him?" Gibbs asked, again going for the direct approach.

Kate turned back around. "I'm not pissed at him Gibbs. I'm not. I'm pissed at me," she blurted out to him, it was loud enough that everyone had heard it. "I'm his partner, I should've known when to back off," Kate told him. But no, she didn't back off, she had continued to push and Tony snapped and then broke.

"It's been coming for a long time," Gibbs said. "Don't blame yourself. Just come over and talk. I'll be inviting everyone over."

"I'm busy tonight," Kate said before sitting down. She didn't know if she could face Tony yet with her feelings still jumbled inside. She had pondered the feelings over and over again, with the same results.

McGee walked into the bullpen and had a shocked expression on his face when he saw Gibbs sitting there typing away. "Close that mouth McGee," he told the youngest agent.

"How's Tony?" McGee asked first.

"At my place," Gibbs answered. "You're welcome to come and visit anytime, all of you," he made sure Kate heard it.

"Sure," McGee replied.

Gibbs was almost done with the report as the others went through a couple of old cases that needed checking up on. The phone rung and without taking his attention off the computer monitor, he answered it.

"Gibbs," he said.

McGee looked up in time to see Gibbs' expression turn ferociously serious. He slammed the receiver down. "Kate, finish the main report," Gibbs barked before he stormed out of the bullpen and into the elevator. A couple of agents barely got out of his way as he quickly walked past them.

"Oh man, he's seriously pissed," McGee stated the obvious. He would hate to be on the receiving end of Gibbs' mood.

* * *

_**Gibbs' Residence**_

Tony had found a disk in his bag and placed it in the laptop to install the couple of games that was on it. If McGee had a problem with Spyder Solitaire or Tetris, he could always remove the programs when he took the laptop back.

The door opened and slammed shut with such force that he swore the walls shook. Tony looked up fearfully to see Gibbs standing over him.

"Boss?" Tony asked in a somewhat shaky tone.

"Would you like to guess who I got a phone call from?" Gibbs asked. "I got a call from Doctor Richardson," he answered the question before Tony had a chance to respond. "Would you like to guess why he called? You missed your appointment this morning," Gibbs answered his own question again.

"That was today?" Tony swallowed the rising fear. "I didn't realize," he tried to explain.

"Would you like to guess what I'm going to do now?" Gibbs asked.

Tony waited for him to answer his own question. "You're going to kick me out," he said as he stood up.

"Sit down," Gibbs snapped. "Give me your phone," he held out his hand.

"My what?" Tony was sure he hadn't heard him right.

"Your phone," Gibbs said with impatience. "Give it to me. I'm confiscating it."

Tony reached into his pocket. He couldn't believe what he was actually doing, but he put the cell phone into Gibbs' outstretched hand. "You can't do that," Tony said, shocked.

"I can," Gibbs pocketed it. He knew how Tony felt about his cell. "You can get it back when you've earned it."

Gibbs couldn't believe that Tony had argued while handing over his cell. It took some doing to get an appointment for the afternoon. Tony was almost too petrified to even debate when Gibbs offered to drive him to the Psychologist's office.

* * *

_**Doctor Richardson's Office**_

Tony sat on the Doctor's couch playing with his fingernails as he waited for the doctor to say something. "So," Richardson broke the silence as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Isn't there anything you'd like to talk about?"

"No," Tony mumbled adamantly as he bit his thumbnail.

"I heard you had some sleep therapy," Richardson prodded. "Had that anything to do with the cases you were working on?" This time she waited for the answer.

"We're supposed to protect innocent people like kids," Tony refused to make eye contact. "But lately I've realized just how hopeless it is and how hopeless I am at my job," Tony continued. "It's no good when you can't protect anybody, the people that need protecting. My father always said…" Tony stopped himself.

"Your father said…" Richardson prodded for him to continue.

"He always said that law enforcement was a stupid career choice," Tony lowered his head again. "I've spent time trying to do my job right, but I seem to always be screwing up and getting myself hurt. You know I hardly ever got myself hurt in Baltimore," he said. That was true.

"Yeah? Why do you think that is?" She asked him.

"I never cared about anyone I worked with like I care for them at NCIS," Tony answered with a sigh. "It's funny I guess, I want to impress my Boss so much and yet I keep screwing up," Tony forced out a laugh. He was always getting injured on the job or getting on someone's nerves. "Frankly, I don't even know why I'm still there. Every time I think about it, I should've been fired along time ago. But I plan on changing that when I get back to work," Tony concluded.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Richardson asked.

"Well it's clearer now," Tony answered. It was extremely clear to him how things must change. "Well, I know I can't be myself, that hasn't worked. So I've been thinking about reinventing myself. I know I have to be a lot less juvenile," he said. A lot of things he remembered about work were him being childishly, rude to Kate and relentlessly teasing McGee. "That'd be best for everyone," Tony muttered. "You know I'm a senior field agent and I never act like one…"

Through the rest of the session, Richardson and Tony continuously talked about the need to change for oneself and how he felt the need to change because of what you think other people may want you to be. Tony failed to see the difference between the two. To him, they went hand in hand; they were one in the same.

* * *

_**A/N: Next Chapter, Tony goes to the bullpen and thinks about the awards… And notes that Kate is avoiding him.**_

_**McGee stirs Tony**_


	23. Chapter 23

_**Hell from 12**_

It had been a week since Tony moved in with Gibbs and all was going well. Yet, the failure of Tony to question anything was causing Gibbs some concern. There was just something missing about the young man. There was just no bounce to the step.

"You think I can have my cell back, Boss?" Tony asked. Without his cell, he felt somewhat disconnected with the outside, that, and being in the protective sanctuary of his boss really meant he was out of the loop.

"Depends, DiNozzo," Gibbs answered flatly.

"On what?" Tony asked tentatively. It was a straightforward question that should've got a straightforward answer. What could it possibly depend on?

"Do you think you've earned it?" Gibbs asked.

Tony thought he'd done everything Gibbs had told him to do and he hadn't skipped on any meals 'either'. He'd done everything the man had asked. Since Gibbs won't give him back the phone, Tony realized he'd missed something. The cell hadn't been mentioned before he brought it up and with the way Gibbs had answered filled the senior field agent with self doubt. Tony chastised himself at thinking he deserved his cell back.

"You're right, I haven't," Tony answered quietly, his head partly down.

"Well then, no you're not getting it back," Gibbs said, waiting for a reaction.

"Understood Boss," Tony muttered, the self doubt held him. He never seemed to learn. His thinking, about his behavior had to be wrong other wise Gibbs would have given back his phone, told him that thing were fine. He'd have to try harder.

Gibbs watched him sit back down. The usual spark wasn't there. That wasn't the effect that he was going' for' with the cell. He wanted to make sure Tony felt that he'd deserved it back but that wasn't the case right now. Tony had however been behaving, so to speak and he needed some positive reinforcement.

_**

* * *

**__**NCIS HQ**_

Tony had convinced Gibbs to let him visit work. He wanted to see everyone there. McGee and Abby had come around to catch up, but there had been no sign of Kate. Part of him didn't blame her for her avoidance since after all he'd been a real dog to her. Tony felt as though he didn't deserve friends like them at times.

He found himself looking through Gibbs' desk and pulling out the award he had received. It was the one he'd dumped because it wasn't deserved. Someone did think he deserved it though and that was Gibbs. The only person who's opinion he truly valued.

"Looking for something DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

Tony hurriedly stuffed the award back into the bottom draw and approached his own desk. "No Boss," he answered. "I was just wondering why you kept my award," it was a question that had been plaguing him since he'd gotten the damn thing.

"Why do you keep mine?" Gibbs asked him, secretly challenging him in order to get a reaction that was more like the man Tony was.

"Because you deserve to have them," Tony answered, making sure to avoid eye contact. "This is going to sound stupid but I'm proud of what you have done," he continued. There was something more, it had given him something to aspire to… It had given him someone to put up on a pedestal as someone he could aspire to become.

Gibbs sat down at his desk. "Is it so hard for you to believe that I'm so proud of you DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, hoping that his tactic was working. Or that he'd see why this tactic and all he had done so far hadn't worked on Tony.

"Well yeah," Tony responded automatically, not understanding where Gibbs was taking this.

Gibbs put the award on Tony's desk and put his hands on his shoulders. "I _am_ proud of you, son. You deserved this award… You should take it," Gibbs told him, with the hope that DiNozzo would see his sincerity and eat up the attention as he had done in the past.

Tony felt uncomfortable.( He didn't want to pull away from the friendly touch. He didn't want Gibbs to think he was ungrateful for the words even though he didn't believe them.)

"You deserved all your awards so I don't want to have mine," Tony replied. If Gibbs didn't think they were important enough to keep then they mustn't be worth it. How could anyone think he deserved an award for what he'd done anyway? He sure as hell didn't think so.

"I'll make you a deal DiNozzo," Gibbs said flatly. "You take your award and I'll take mine and we give each other our word that they won't end up in the trash," he continued.

Tony reluctantly agreed as he reached in to his bottom draw and pulled out one of the many awards that Gibbs had rightfully received. He handed one over before he took his and then put it in the draw. Again he wondered why Gibbs was so adamant about him keeping his.

******************************************************************

Tony decided to visit the others while he was there. The first person he thought of going to see was Abby in her lab.

"Tony!" She exclaimed loudly. "You're looking better every time I see you," she exclaimed.

"Ok Abbs," he said while peeling her off of him. "You're looking good yourself," he replied.

"So, tell me what it's been like at Gibbs… Tell me all," Abby said exuberantly.

"He took my phone," Tony said without smiling. "I don't think he has any plans on giving it back," he added. This was beginning to seem true. "I've got some rounds to make before I head back," Tony explained, suddenly he needed to get away from the cheerful lab tech.

"Are you ok Tony?" Abby's question just sounded so odd.

"Yeah, I'm ok… Why do you ask?" Tony asked her, confused by the question.

Abby folder her arms, she tried to see what was going on with Tony and examined his eyes. He'd changed, and it wasn't for the best, she thought while her eyes locked on his.

This had to be the Abby equivalent to the Gibbs stare. Tony began to feel uncomfortable and it was something akin to being put under a hot light while being interrogated or under her microscope.

"You just seem so…" She looked for the perfect words to describe what she was thinking. "Un-Tony-like," she said.

"Hey I'm still Tony," Tony replied. He didn't bother to tell her that he was reinventing himself. Sure people wouldn't understand it at first, but hell, they'll get use to the new Tony and grow to like him better as he reinforced the actions, he thought.

"Come back to us," Abby whispered as she watched Tony disappear into the elevator. Her beloved Tony was a lost soul at the moment and needed everyone's help in rediscovering himself.

**********************************

Ducky was finishing up in Autopsy when Tony had entered. He'd stepped towards Tony as soon as he saw him. "Hello Anthony," Ducky greeted. "So good to see you up and about," he smiled at his young friend.

Tony rubbed his eyebrow with his thumb. "I wanted to see you Duck," Tony said.

"What about my dear boy?" Ducky asked.

Tony thought for a moment. "I really appreciate what you did for me Duck. Gibbs said that you took care of my rent… I want to let you know that I'll pay you back every single cent," Tony assured the ME. "You won't be left out of pocket," he explained.

There were times when Ducky admired the young man. It was very rare that you came across a young person of Tony's caliber. And yet on the other hand, he actually wanted to take him outside and put him across his knee and whack the nonsense out of him. Tony never could seem to handle people doing stuff for him. He'd always talk about having people's _SIX_, but when it came to be the other way around it was a total shock for Tony, he didn't understand why it would be so important.

"You can repay me by getting yourself healthy Anthony," Ducky replied, while he studied his young friend's reaction to their conversation.

"I am healthy," Tony answered unconvincingly.

"Get yourself fully healthy and I shall consider that as repayment," Ducky said. "You don't need to pay me back any other way." That was something he hoped would get through to the younger man.

"But…" Tony began to say.

"Anthony!" Ducky raised his voice in annoyance. The young man could be annoying for sure. "It is admirable that you're willing to pay me back but I shall not accept any payback like that," he said more quietly.

"But it wasn't cheap," Tony protested, the thought of someone not wanting him to repay what he owed. The idea was so foreign and his father had always told Tony that you never allow yourself to be in debt with another person. "I must,"

"I've been around for quite sometime and have saved a lot of money. I can afford to keep your apartment for awhile," Ducky assured Tony. "Now if you don't mind, I've got a busy schedule ahead."

"Sorry Duck," Tony answered, feeling like he had disturbed the older man. "I just want to make sure you know I appreciate it," he added quickly, and sounded like an apology.

"I know you do Anthony," Ducky said. "Just make sure you get better and make sure you do everything Jethro tells you to do," he added.

Tony nodded before leaving to reenter the bullpen.

****************************************

"Hey Kate," Tony said with some hesitation.

Kate didn't look at him. This was something that Tony couldn't blame her for. "Um, I've got to pick up some test results," Kate said doing her best to avoid making contact with Tony. She didn't care how juvenile it sounded, the guilt was overwhelming.

"Hey Tony," McGee said as he noticed him watching Kate leave for the elevator.

"Hi Tim," Tony sat back down. "Need a hand with anything?" He asked.

"You even think about answering that with an affirmative McGee and you'll be in more trouble than you can ever imagine," Gibbs warned before leaning against Tony's desk. "And you shouldn't be offering help either DiNozzo," he said firmly. "You've been really good this week DiNozzo," Gibbs looked at him and he swore he saw a hint of a smile creep across his face. "So I think it's about time you were rewarded for it," Tony hoped that that meant he'd be getting his cell back. "So I've brought you a present." Gibbs handed Tony a small booklet.

Tony flicked through the booklet with his face contorted in utter confusion. It was just full of different colors. "Really Boss. You shouldn't have," Tony said as he still tried to make heads and tails of this.

"You're going to choose the new color for your room," Gibbs explained. "A new coat of paint will do wonders."

Tony was shocked. "You're going to paint the spare room Boss?" He asked with a quizzical look.

"I'm not doing it," Gibbs answered. "It's your bedroom DiNozzo, so you're going to paint the room yourself, with the color you choose," he explained.

Tony's eyes went wide. "Me, paint the room? I've never painted anything in my life," he said. Well not anything to do with houses. "I don't know how. I'll screw it up," he explained, trying to cover the fear of screwing up.

"You can't screw up painting a room," Gibbs assured him. It was terrible to see. Tony always was quick to put himself down when it came to things. "Come on… Pick out a color and we'll get the paint," Gibbs said.

"Can I paint it Cerulean Blue?" Tony asked him. He was sure that Gibbs already had a color in mind and was about to ignore any suggestions he made.

"Don't ask me DiNozzo," Gibbs answered. "If you want to paint it Cerulean Blue and we can get hold of that color then that's what we get."

Tony couldn't believe his ears. Gibbs was going to let him loose with a paint brush inside the Gibbs' Kingdom. Oh God, what if he did screw up? Hell, he was bound to screw it up. "I don't think this is a good idea Boss," Tony said urgently, swallowing hard, the anxiety he felt.

"You should paint the room," Gibbs said. "You've earned the privilege to do it. I told you, you won't be able to screw it up," Gibbs said as if reading his mind. "I know you can do it DiNozzo," Gibbs tried to reinforce the positive that Tony obviously needed.

* * *

_**A/N: Ok, who can tell me where Cerulean Blue comes from:D**_

_**Next Chapter preview… Tony paints the room, Ducky, Gibbs and McGee conspire to get Kate and Tony to talk to each other.**_


	24. Chapter 24

_**Hell From 12**_

Fortunately there was enough Cerulean blue for Tony to pack into the car. They took the cans back to Gibbs' house, where Tony prepped the room to be painted. He had laid the tarp and put blue tape over the room. Gibbs had instructed him how to do the prep work and why, in order to prevent the paint from getting on anything but the wall. It took ages for Tony to pry open the paint lid. Gibbs impatient, almost jumped in to help, but fought against it and allowed Tony to figure it out. Tony stirred the paint, poured it into the pan, dipped the roller in and started to spread the color on the wall.

Occasionally Tony had stopped to get something to drink or eat. He worked diligently into the evening on the walls and molding until he finished the room. He looked in at the room from the hallway at his work. He actually thought it wasn't too bad a job. Gibbs stood next to him and peered in at the work as well. Tony bit his bottom lip as he waited for him to make a comment.

"You've never painted a room in a house before?" Gibbs asked and watched Tony nod. "You did a great job. You're really good at it," Gibbs patted him on the back and Tony smiled proudly.

"You think Boss?" Tony sought confirmation.

"Yes I do DiNozzo," Gibbs replied without hesitation. He wanted to make sure that Tony knew he didn't think it was a mistake to let him work on the room by himself. Gibbs purpose was to show Tony that there was someone around that had faith in him.

* * *

_**NCIS HQ:**_

Tony was shocked when Gibbs had talked him into coming to the NCIS building. At least he was getting out of the house. Sure it was nice there, but there was the whole world outside. He watched Gibbs speak to McGee before leaving the bullpen. Tony just waited to see what was going to happen.

McGee placed a small paper ball in the middle of the Rubber band that was attached to his thumb and forefinger. He then slowly stretched it back until it was about to snap before releasing the projectile.

Tony couldn't believe that McGee was slinging paper balls at him. One of them landed on his lap and he just picked it up to toss it in the bin. He leaned back in the chair and this time copped a larger paper ball to the head.

"Probie!" Tony yelled at the top of his lungs.

McGee whistled as he pretended to type away. "What?" He asked innocently. It would've been more convincing if he didn't have a smile plastered across his face. That was the one word he'd been missing. This Tony just wasn't right. God, he thought, he missed being teased by him.

"I'm sorry Tim," Tony realized what he'd said. He didn't want to call McGee that, but the continuous torment had driven him to it. That was something about himself that he was trying to change, to treat everyone with respect.

That wasn't the reaction McGee was hoping for. He was about to say something when Gibbs came strolling into the bullpen. "Come with me Tony," Gibbs said and gave a nonchalant nod in the direction of McGee who quickly nodded back before leaving the bullpen.

Tony's eyes narrowed in concern. "If this is about me shouting at McGee, I already apologized," Tony said as he followed Gibbs to the elevator. "I know I shouldn't have done it," he continued to apologize.

**************************************************

Ducky was eagerly talking to Kate when they approached the elevator. Tony entered first as Gibbs took his position at the front. Tony and Kate did their best to avoid eye contact with one another. Just as the doors were closing, Ducky and Gibbs exited without any prior warning and before the doors fully closed, leaving Tony and Kate in the elevator, together, alone.

"Alright McGee," Gibbs said into his phone quickly, "Do it now,"

Kate felt the elevator roar into action as it went down but abruptly stopped before it reached the next level. Kate reached for the emergency phone and picked it up. "Hello," the voice on the other end said.

"McGee?" Kate asked. It was definitely the younger agent on the other end. "There seems to be a problem with the elevator," Kate said.

"Yes… Um, about that," McGee stammered over his words. "I can't start the elevator again until I'm ordered to… Sorry guys. Talk to you later," the emergency line went dead as McGee hung his end up.

"I think they want us to talk," Kate said breaking the silence. She was referring to Gibbs and Ducky, who managed to conspire a plan in order to get them trapped in the elevator so there would be no choice but to talk.

Tony nodded as he looked at the ceiling and then the doors. He was feeling trapped, almost claustrophobic. "I don't blame them really," he eventually said. He didn't blame anyone except for himself. "They probably want me to apologize and they're right, I should. I _am_, sorry Kate," Tony swallowed. He'd hope it didn't sound forced. He had wanted to apologize to her, only she had been avoiding him like the plague.  
He couldn't blame Kate for that.

"Why are you apologizing?" Kate asked. Finally their eyes locked together. "I should be the one saying sorry," she explained, which was laced with guilt.

"Why?" Tony asked in surprise. "You've done nothing wrong. I'm the one who tossed you to the ground," he still remembered the look of shock on her face as she sat on the floor. The memory was so bad and had haunted him to the point where he had to push it down. He could barely even remember doing it, but the picture now stood out in his mind.

"That was an accident," Kate said. "I slapped you and that was wrong," she reminded him.

"I deserved it," Tony explained. He'd provoked her, had gone straight for a woman's heart. "Oh god Kate, that's what this is about. I'm really sorry." He told her with sincerity, "you know that I really don't blame you for avoiding me," Tony looked down in shame.

Kate shook her head. She never thought that her actions would be interpreted that way. "That's not why I was avoiding you," she also looked down, and now at her feet. "I really screwed up," she said, guilt still in her voice.

"No, you didn't," Tony's eyes widened and looked up at his partner. "You didn't screw up. I did. I know everyone has this parental need to protect me and it's driving me nuts. But I do know how I've been," he told her honestly.

Kate sighed. "Well, I noticed that you were hurting and I didn't let up. I took things too far," Kate waved her hand when she noticed he was about to blame himself for everything once again. "So I just kept on going, I should've known when to stop and really see how you were," she said, softly. "And Gibbs tried to warn me not to try and wake you up," she added.

"People need to stop blaming themselves," Tony responded, quietly. The self doubt was in his tone which was so difficult to hear. "It's all my fault. With me always teasing everybody, it was bound to come back," Tony said. "I just wish I could take it all back," he slid down the wall and on to the elevator floor. He didn't know how long they'd be there and he needed to sit, his knees pulled up to his chest.

"I don't think anybody wants you any other way," Kate sat down beside him. "I really think McGee is missing the real you and everyone else, too," she explained to him.

"How could anyone miss how I was?" Tony asked in disbelief. He'd been really horrible to everyone. Why would anyone miss that?

"They care for you and everyone knows that you're hurting inside," Kate gently said., "You always talk about having people's six. Well we all want to have your six too, if you'll let us."

"Why?" Tony rested his chin on his knees, arms curled around them. "I don't get that. I'm an asshole."

"No…" Kate stated firmly. "You're Tony and nobody wants you any other way,"

Tony sighed, he raised his head while he laughed bitterly. He then let his head fall back to rest against the wall. "I find that hard to believe," he told her.

"It's true," Kate replied. "We all miss the old Tony. Even me," she couldn't believe she had said that, but over the last week, she knew it was true.

Tony smiled slightly. He couldn't fully believe that right now. "I _am_ sorry Kate," he said solemnly.

"And I'm sorry too," she replied quickly. "We've both apologized. What do you say we wipe the slate clean?"

"Wipe the slate?" Tony asked, uncertain he understood.

"Yeah, wipe the slate clean," Kate answered as she extended her hand. "You forget about what you said to me and how you knocked me down. I'll forget about how I slapped you and didn't act when I saw you hurting," Kate wanted to make a truce. It would help them both with what they were feeling. She watched him to see his reaction.

"Really?" Tony asked, he couldn't believe she'd forgive him. He watched in hope as Kate nodded a yes. When she did he felt relief, something he hadn't felt in awhile and smiled before answering her. "Deal," Tony said as they both shook on it and stood up.

"You're looking much better," Kate remarked. And, she felt a lot better too. The guilt was gone for the first time since everything happened, her spirit was lightened and it felt good.

"Thanks," Tony replied as he picked up the receiver. "Ok, Tim, we have talked and are ready to be released now," he smiled into the handset.

* * *

Tony smiled at Kate as she went about her business and he was standing next to Gibbs. "Hey Boss?" Tony waited for Gibbs to stop.

"What is it, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"I was wondering if I could have my phone back," Tony dared himself to ask once again.

"Do you think you've earned it?" Gibbs challenged him.

Tony was fresh off working things out with Kate and on a small high. "Yeah, I deserve it. I've done everything you asked of me without question really. And, Kate and I talked things out. So hell yeah, I think I've earned it," Tony bit his lip and waited anxiously for the NO that was sure to follow.

Without warning, something went sailing over Gibbs' head and Tony managed to catch it expertly. It was his cell, his lifeline. Tony felt like he was back in the loop and he beamed.

"I was waiting for you to tell me you've earned it DiNozzo," Gibbs said.

As Tony was leaving he held his hand up and showed off his phone by shaking it. Making sure others noticed it. Tony DiNozzo was back in the loop.

* * *

_**A/N: preview: Abby, McGee and Kate go to Blockbuster (if you have that video store in US) to pick out the one perfect movie.**_

_**And about Cerulean Blue… Now I'm not saying any of you are wrong with your thoughts but, congrats to those who got that it was X-Files. It was what Robert Modell kept saying to people so he could push his will onto his victims and get them to do what he wants… The episode was Pusher.**_

_**Now anyone want to guess what movie they'll get to watch with Tony to have a second go at bringing Tony back. I do have it in my mind already.**_


	25. Chapter 25

_**Hell From 12**_

Abby, Kate and McGee ended up in the centre of Blockbuster video. They couldn't decide on what movie to watch with Tony. They did know his likes since Abbey and sometimes McGee would go do a movie night with Tony. Still they were starting to get frustrated.

"Come on, something fun," Abby said. "You know, catch phrases and catchy tunes and all that," she explained in order to get the others on the same wavelength.

"There's always Ghostbusters," McGee responded. That was always a fun movie to watch, one liners, silliness and almost plotless, it was perfect for him.

Kate raised an eyebrow. "Ghostbusters? Come on," she said negatively. "That's a bit outdated and a bit of a bore. It's got to be a western movie right?"

"Not John Wayne," Abby whined. "He just about has everything on John Wayne," she let them know.

"We can try Deliverance again," McGee said. "I know it didn't go over well. But I think Tony is coming back," McGee held the DVD on top of the chest high shelf. "Worth a shot?" He asked.

Abby shrugged her shoulders and turned to Kate. "Perhaps you should pick a backup movie," she suggested.

Kate walked around for a moment as she tried to find another movie. Thousands of titles and none of them seemed to jump out and say 'pick me'. She made her way to the comedy section. There was always one movie that was good for a laugh. Well to her, anyway. Finally, the bluish cover virtually screamed at her, Undercover Blues with Dennis Quaid and Jane Turner. Well it always made her laugh with the corny jokes from the actors. That would be so Tony.

"I got this one," Kate said. "It's about spies who're on leave and have a run in with the local cops while they're asked to be on a case against a rival. While all the time having this street punk trying to get revenge on them. And, to top that all off, they have to raise their baby girl," giving her friends a quick summary of the plot.

"Sounds silly," McGee commented with a smile.

"Sounds perfect," Abby took the videos up to the counter. She thought that the two would be enough.

* * *

There was an eager knock on Gibbs' front door and Tony answered it. Gibbs had been asleep for the past hour. He quickly hushed the visitors before letting them in. Abby showed the movies and Kate showed the pizza as they went into the living room.

Tony sighed as they sat down. "You didn't have to come around," Tony didn't think he was really in the mood for any movies. But, since they went to all the trouble, he figured he might as well watch the movies with them.

"Deliverance?" Tony asked, looking up in surprise.

That wasn't a movie he'd expect them to bring around again. Tony closed his robe before sitting on the couch and waited for Deliverance to start. It was one of those old western type movies that started off really slow. Soon the famous dueling banjos scene came on. The young man was playing the guitar and the weird looking kid started to join in with the banjo. The kid reminded Tony of) something that belonged in the X-Files.

"Ne, ne, nee neow neow neowww," Tony raised an eyebrow. He'd always been the one to quote movies as well as mimic them. Only now he was mildly surprised to hear Abby imitating the banjo part.

"Bom, bom, bomb bomb bommmm," McGee began, causing Tony to raise his other eyebrow as Abby and McGee went further into the dueling banjos song.

"Nee, Nee neow neow neowww," Abby continued.

"Bom, bom… bom bom bom," McGee almost repeated what Abby was singing, except he made it resembled a guitar.

They seemed to be not letting up at this. Kate and Tony exchanged glances with each other and laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Tony shrugged his shoulders and started to sing,. "Yankee doodle went to town riding on a pony," he looked from McGee to Abby. "Stuck a feather in his had and called it macaroni," he chimed in (with words that fit the tune.

The dueling banjos from Abby and McGee increased in speed as Tony found himself struggling to keep up, but wasn't able to find his place again.

"This is nuts," Kate laughed at the three of them. It was good to see Tony joining in on something that usually irritated her. Only this time it didn't, it was good to hear Tony doing something he normally did.

"Nuts?" Tony smiled at the sound of that.

*******

The noise that woke up Gibbs sounded like someone was either playing the bagpipes or even strangling a male and female cat. Gibbs donned his shirt and made his way downstairs to see what the noise was. On the couch, Abby and McGee were impersonating banjos, and Tony was occasionally chiming in with Yankee Doodle Went To Town. Gibbs couldn't do anything but smile at seeing his team together and enjoying themselves. That was something he truly missed.

Things had started looking better. It seemed that the talk with Kate had alleviated the guilt and doubt that both had been suffering from and allowed them to move past it.

"Hey, Boss," Tony had turned around and saw Gibbs standing in the doorway. "Sorry, we didn't mean to wake you," he said. The others had quieted down at seeing they woke their boss up.

"I was up already," Gibbs said. He wanted them to continue, since it proved that Tony was being Tony again, even if it was in small steps. Gibbs smiled when it was no surprise that Abby restarted the proceedings. It was funny in its own special way.

"Ne, neow, nee, neow, neow," Abby shrugged after hearing that Gibbs had already been awake. She then continued on as if they were never interrupted.

"Bom, bom bombom bom," McGee sang back.

The dueling banjos lasted for a good half hour until the voices of McGee, Abby and Tony threatened to disappear. They all shared a good laugh. Smiles appeared on everyone's faces, it finally felt more normal.

*********************************

_**3 Weeks Later**_

Mentally and physically, Tony was feeling great. He finally felt as if he were well on the path to recovery. Finally, the next day he would go back to work. He had to admit he really missed his job.

Tony hadn't mentioned moving back into his own apartment yet. He was actually relishing in the company that Gibbs provided. They sat on plastic chairs under the patio in the back yard, having a drink.

"Can't believe I thought about reinventing myself a few weeks ago," Tony laughed.

"What changed your mind?" Gibbs was curious.

"Actually, it was several things," Tony answered deep in thought. "Something Kate said, McGee flinging paper at me, trying to get me back on track and dueling banjos," he laughed again.

"And then there was you," Tony's face turned deadly serious. "You never judged me," they clinked glasses together. "I'd say to friendship, but you're much more than that," Tony confided in the man he trusted so much.

"Thank you DiNozzo," Gibbs gave one of his rare smiles at the complement.

"No, thank you," Tony answered and again he entered into deep thought for a moment. "This reminds me of Boston Legal… I'm Alan Shore and you're Denny – Hey!" Tony felt the head slap.

"I'm not an old has been," Gibbs jokingly growled.

"I wasn't saying you were," Tony tried to explain, just like he usually did when finding he might have said the wrong thing. "But they had the same friendship we have and they met outside after every episode and just talked about anything."

"Well just be glad we're not on a TV show DiNozzo," Gibbs said smiling and shaking his head. Quoting Television shows, he never thought he'd be so glad to hear Tony doing that.

"I'll drink to that," Tony replied.

"Good to have you back DiNozzo," Gibbs said.

"Hell, it's great to be back," Tony answered happily.

* * *

_**Back To Work:**_

Abby was beside herself waiting for Tony to get into work. Each time the elevator pinged she was at the ready to chase Tony down and welcome him back to work. She paced, wringing her hand with impatience. Again, it was someone else and no sign of him.

Tony had assumed that people were waiting for him and deliberately bided his time before catching the elevator up to his floor. He knew that Abby would be waiting for him as she always did when someone had been returning from holidays or returning from sickness or injury. The elevator doors opened at his floor. He'd just managed to step out when he was almost taken to the ground by an overzealous Abby hug.

"Argh," Tony groaned laughingly as he managed to maintain his balance.

"Tony, I missed you, missed you, missed you, missed you!" Abby told him loudly while squeezing him, tightly. "Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back," she squealed.

Tony held his arms around the over zealous lab tech. He skillfully walked and dragged Abby around until he was at his desk. "Ok, Abbs," Tony said. "If you don't release me, I'm going to pass out," he wheezed, trying to catch his breath.

"Sorry," She released the grip.

"Tony," McGee said with glee.

"Probie," Tony answered more subdued. "Miss me?" he asked.

"No not really," McGee answered like he used to and then he flashed to how things had been. "Of course I did," he corrected himself. "It's just been so quiet without you."

"Yeah," Kate said as she walked by. "People have been acting professionally,"

"Gee thanks Kate," Tony said smiling.

Gibbs strolled in. "We've got a missing petty officer. Gear up," he called out.

"On your six Boss," Tony said.

Those four words was something Gibbs found that he'd missed. To hear them once more was definitely comforting and to know he had someone who he trusted that had his six. His team was whole again and ready for the future. They could face anything that life was willing to throw at them.

* * *

_**Epilogue: L Jethro Gibbs.**_

It was a damn slow process to get my senior field agent back. With the help of the team we were able to pull him through his dark time and allowed him to be his old self again. But it wasn't too long after that he contracted the plague all because a mother's daughter was too embarrassed about being found naked and tied to a bed. We thought we'd lose him, but DiNozzo fought the pneumonic plague and won out. Fifteen percent is usually nothing, but in DiNozzo's case it's a much better chance. Then three weeks after that, Kate was killed. I was really concerned about him then, considering how close he and Kate were. But the kid bounced back miraculously and even took the time to snap me out of the turmoil I was feeling.

Tony's a great man and just as long as we have each other's six, we'll be fine…

_**THE END!**_

_**Takes a bow… Special thanks to crockettsgirl who should take a bow also. If you don't it's Abby punch for you who beta'd my last chapters in this story and made sure that my mistakes were corrected.**_

_**Thanks for all the encouraging reviews as well as the criticism of my mistakes. Without them I can't improve.**_

_**I'm sad and happy to see this story end. Poor Tony, I better give him a happy story soon. He deserves it after being under my cruel hand… LOL**_


End file.
